PAPILLION, Neb. (KMTV) — Parents in the Papillion La Vista Community Schools district are heading into a new school year without additional bus routes, despite months of advocacy over safety concerns.
The issue gained attention last winter when a middle school student was struck by a car in a crosswalk while walking to school. Parents called on both police and the district to take action.
"For me it's just a major safety thing," Melissa Casey, a PLCS parent, said.
Police responded by conducting extra patrols and writing dozens of citations. The district sought quotes from bus companies for custom routes and surveyed families about their willingness to pay for the service.
The district does not provide bus service to students who live within 4 miles of campus at the middle school level. That policy caught some families off guard after relocating to La Vista.
"We're an active duty military family and for families that move here and it can be quite shocking," Amy Bonn, a PLCS parent, said.
Other military families shared similar experiences.
"There’s this false kinda sense that this is a purple star military community and all of these things are kinda in place to help you succeed and thrive here, but then something so basic as providing transportation to your kids to get to school safely is not an option," Erika Walsh said.
A district survey found more than 350 families expressed interest in additional routes. However, the board said its current contract with its busing company limits its ability to add new routes, meaning any expanded service would have to be structured as a special service offering negotiated for the next contract. That would allow busing to begin at the start of the 2028/29 school year.
That reality prompted a district staff member to address the board this summer during a board meeting.
"I think there was some hope from some of our parents and I understand why, I don't fault them certainly, that we could have something up and running in August. There's just no way. There's no way we could do it," the staff member said.
I asked the district for an interview, but a spokesperson declined to make anyone available for questions.
The district has indicated it wants to find a solution, but the earliest new routes could be in place is January, if the school board sets up the program on its own. Data was presented at the most recent PLCS board meeting pertaining to the most effective course of action based on survey information.
However, the school board did not take any major action at the meeting, concerned about the level of commitment from neighbors.
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