Lee County mother continuing fight to get children a bus stop

Reporter: Asha Patel Writer: Tim Belizaire
Published: Updated:

A Lee County mother is fighting to get her children a bus to school.

The school district already told her she lives too close to the school to qualify for a bus route, but she has not given up.

Now, a state lawmaker has gotten involved, too. The district called her back today, and they said their decision is final.

Shannon Santiago asked how they could make her two children under the age of 10 walk two miles to school on roads without sidewalks.

This has been quite the fight for Santiago. She said she just wants a bus to take her two kids to San Carlos Park Elementary School.

But the district said she lives within a two-mile radius, so that can’t happen. Santiago appealed that decision, measuring it multiple ways on her own.

The district said the transportation review committee process was investigated by manually measuring and determining that the home doesn’t qualify for a bus stop.

She called them back, and they called her again today, saying they still stand by their decision.

WINK News reached out to lawmakers to see what options she has.

Santiago said she is not going to give up this fight. She plans to attend the next school board meeting to discuss this issue with board members and the superintendent.

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