Deer Creek Mom Advocates For Safer Elementary School Bus Stop

A Deer Creek mother is raising concerns about what she calls a dangerous elementary school bus stop.

Brittany Prickett lives off North Rockwell and West Memorial Road in the Deer Creek school district and says the bus stop in her neighborhood has moved three times in the past several years, each time further away and just outside of her gated community. Now she’s on a mission to change that.

“It comes down to the safety of the kids,” Prickett said.

On Tuesday, Prickett started going door to door in her neighborhood to gather signatures on a petition to move the bus stop back into the neighborhood or at least closer.

“It's point-three miles from our house to the bus stop,” she said. “I know that doesn't sound like a big distance, but when you're talking about little kids between the ages of five and nine, maybe 10 years old, that's a long way for them to walk.” 

And with an added concern, she says the bus driver doesn’t always use the safety features, her husband capturing video of the bus without the lights and stop sign activated during a stop. In the video, you can see kids darting into the roadway.

“They're kids, they play, they don't pay attention,” Prickett said. “In the morning, cars will just line up in the street at the stop sign and people trying to go to work can't get out of the neighborhood safely because there's a line of parked cars so it creates traffic issues.”

While our cameras were there on Tuesday, multiple buses stopped, including the elementary school bus, and all drivers used the safety features on the bus. But for now, Prickett is focusing on getting the bus stop moved.

“We're not asking you to come straight to our door we understand that's not realistic,” she said. “We're really just looking to get their attention, get them to relook at this location, and hopefully change it to a location that's safer for our kids to get on and off each day.”

Prickett says once she gathers enough signatures, she will take it to the superintendent in hopes the stop is moved or more stops are added to the route.

Deer Creek School District released this statement in response to bus routes:

"Bus routes are developed to accommodate the number of student riders, fleet capacity, and driver availability. Our district policy is to ensure all Deer Creek students that ride a bus to or from school have access to a bus stop within a half mile of their house. Adjustments to bus stops and routes are made throughout the school year based on specific circumstances. 

In this specific instance, the bus stop was determined based on where our buses could safely access students from multiple neighborhoods, ensuring they stay within a half-mile distance of their houses. 

The Deer Creek Transportation Department takes all safety concerns seriously and addresses issues accordingly."