SURPRISE, AZ — Some West Valley parents are sharing concerns about school bus transportation changes that could lead to students walking multiple miles every day to and from school.
ABC15 recently received a message from a parent who says the Dysart School District in Surprise will no longer be providing transportation for some students in the district.
“Next year if you live within 2 miles of the school you are no longer offered transportation," the message read. "That means kids walking in 110º weather, kids crossing busy streets, the little kids walking if they can’t get a ride from the parents!”
ABC15 confirmed that the Dysart School District sent a letter home to families about the changes, explaining that a bond measure was placed on the November 2024 ballot, which was not approved by voters. The district told ABC15 a bond has not been passed in the district since 2006. The 2024 bond would have helped replace the district’s aging bus fleet and the board is considering going to voters for another bond this November.
According to a presentation in a February board meeting, the district said 70% of its buses are 15 years or older, adding that the lifespan of a bus is 20 years.
Because of this, the district shared in a letter that starting with the 2025-2026 school year, bus service would only be available to high school students "whose primary residence is more than two radial miles from their home school, and school bus transportation for K-8 students will now be available only for those whose primary residence is more than one and a half radial miles from their home school."
Currently, K-8 students living within a mile radius are required to walk as well as high school students within 1.5 miles, so it is half a mile change for each respective grade cohort.
Amanda Rockey, a mother with three kids in the district, is worried for her daughter who will be attending middle school this coming year. She said her daughter will be 10 when she has to start walking more than 3 miles to and from school and is concerned.
“Right now I’m at a loss. I can’t tell my job I’m only going to be there an X amount of hours, it’s just not how life works,” she said. “I tried to be proactive. I tried to call the school. I’ve tried to call daycares around. There’s really no other way around this, as far as myself right now. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
The change will affect up to 500 students in the district, according to the presentation.
“We understand change is difficult. This is not an easy thing to do. It is something that we take very seriously. We take to heart. But in November our Community spoke and they said we need to live within our means. That is exactly what we're trying to do,” Superintendent John Croteau said in the meeting.
The district told families that it would be "providing additional resources, including information on safe walking and biking routes in the coming months."
The Dysart Unified School District provided a statement to ABC15:
"We recently notified our families about the need to extend our transportation eligibility requirements in order to reduce the daily strain on our aging bus fleet. While we know these changes are not ideal, general education transportation is not a requirement in Arizona, and the new transportation boundaries are an unfortunate necessity in order to ensure the district can transport students safely, and continue to operate in a fiscally responsible manner. It has been over 18 years since voters have approved a bond for Dysart, which has impacted a number of needed projects, including bus replacements, school safety improvements, AC unit replacements, roof repairs, building a new elementary school, and obtaining land for a high school."
