JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Public Schools is adding two new bus stops in Mayport after a mother told the News4Jax I-TEAM about her daughter's mile-and-a-half walk to school.
Lori Culvert's daughter would have had to cross six lanes of traffic to get to Mayport Middle School. One of the intersections on the route, at Wonderwood Drive and A1A, is where 12-year-old Hunter Cope was hit and killed while walking to school in 2017.
"I can't imagine sitting at work every day, just wondering if she made it to school OK. That just haunts me," Culvert said. "I just want a safe place for our children to cross."
News4Jax reporter Kelly Wiley walked the route herself. It took her 23 minutes to get to the bus entrance of the middle school.
Culvert emailed the school district in early July asking for a bus stop to be added or for a crossing guard to be placed at the intersection of Wonderwood and A1A. The school district told both News4Jax and Culvert that the school district's policy is not to add bus stops within 1.5 miles of a school.
Following an I-TEAM investigation, the school district said two new bus stops will be added Aug. 12, one at the intersection of Bayshore Drive and A1A and the other at the intersection of Wonderwood and Bayshore drives.
A spokesperson for Duval County Public Schools said any Mayport Middle School student in that area can board the bus. The bus drivers assigned to these new stops will be adding them to their existing route.s
One of the new bus stops are right across the street from Culvert's apartment. She said her "heart is happy" knowing children in the complex will have a safe ride to school.
According to the school district, the issue is still on the agenda for the Jacksonville School Safety Committee meeting on Sept. 10 because "discussions about this intersection are still ongoing."