WFAA-TV

LITTLE ELM — A mother of a child in the Frisco Independent School District is speaking out against the bus service she has called dangerous.

Those who live within two miles of a Frisco school don't get bus service unless they pay for it, which many families do. But some families say the service isn't safe enough since their children, many times alone, have to walk almost a mile to meet the bus.

The department of transportation says the most dangerous time for students each day is before and after they get on the bus, which is why the Frisco district makes sure middle school students don't walk more than half a mile to any stop.

But that rule doesn't seem to apply for some students who pay to ride the bus, like Alexus Ray.

"It's not safe," said Shireka Rodman, Alexus' mother, of the route her child takes to get to her bus stop. "It's not even safe in a car."

Walking to school on busy Eldorado Parkway is out of the question since there are no sidewalks and few cross walks.

But Mrs. Rodman said she can't take her 11-year-old daughter to school because she works early hours; and living 1.7 miles from Griffin Middle School means the bus service isn't free. Rodman decided to pay the fee so Alexus could be picked up. However, Rodman said that hasn't solved the problem.

"Why are we paying so much money and still having to make arrangements to get the child to the bus stop?" she said.

The bus stop is almost a mile away from their home, and Mrs. Rodman said she doesn't like the idea of Alexus making the trip alone twice daily.

"The bus that I wanted her switched to comes directly past my home, but they wouldn't budge," she said.

The district puts all paying students on separate buses and at separate stops. But choosing central locations means some students will have to go the distance.

In an e-mail to Mrs. Rodman, Superintendent Dr. Rick Reedy wrote, "I regret that you do not agree with transportation's decision, but it is consistent with how we have always handled fare bussing - which was correctly described as a service to our patrons not required by law."

Meanwhile, Mrs. Rodman said she is still on a quest to find a safer way for her child to get to school.

"I shouldn't have to spend my day at work thinking if my child got to the bus stop safely," she said.

Until then, Mrs. Rodman drops Alexus off at the school on her way to work at 7 a.m., which is almost two hours early. Meantime, her family is posting ads on craigslist looking for carpools.

E-mail sslater@wfaa.com