Some families see changes to school bus routes in Joplin

JOPLIN, Mo. (KOAM) - Some families in Joplin Schools are seeing changes to their bus routes.

“No problems, no issues. and then here recently, matter of fact, last Wednesday, I received a letter stating that they will no longer be able to ride the bus.“

For more than two years, Nicholas Hyatt's sons have been registered and riding the bus to school.

But last week, Hyatt received a letter from the Joplin Schools Transportation Department, informing him that his son's bus stop was found to be in a "NO BUS Zone", meaning students are expected to be able to walk to school.

The full letter states:

“Parents,

While working to improve transportation efficiency, it was discovered that your student’s bus stop location resides in the NO BUS Zone.

Starting 4/29/24 You will need to provide your student with alternate transportation.

We apologize for the inconvenience this might cause.

Sincerely,

Joplin Schools Transportation Department”

According to the letter, starting now Hyatt has to find alternate transportation for his elementary school-aged son.

"I'm concerned about how I'm going to get them back home safely. I'm not big on them walking," says Hyatt.

The head of the Transportation Department says the department regularly goes through their system and finds students who should be walking instead of riding the bus.

The district has bus zones available on their website for parents to view and check if their home qualifies.

The Transportation Department says the district is doing this to ensure they are being as cost effective s possible. They say they try to give families 4-5 days notice, but their may be delays due to the speed of mail.

Hyatt says for many parents like him, this just isn't enough time.

“I'm just a single father. so, you know, I also work out of Neosho. So it makes it a little bit harder. We just recently moved up here three years ago," says Hyatt. "There's not a lot of family or help around here for myself. And I'm sure it's the same thing for other parents around the community.”

For now, Hyatt says he will be using his lunch break to drive from Neosho to pick up his son from school. He says the one thing he wants to see from the district is better communication with families.

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