A preschooler may have to walk more than one tenth of a mile alone in a neighborhood with registered sex offenders to get to her community daycare. More than a dozen elementary schoolers will have to march even further along a busy stretch of highway to reach their destination.
Thanks to a new school bus policy in Hampton District One.
Because of continued budget shortages, Hampton One will no longer makes stops at homes or daycares within a mile and a half of a school because these costs are not funded by the state.
"We're not going to have door-to-door drop offs, we will have drop off points in those children's communities," said Superintendent Dr. Doug McTeer. "It's not as convenient for those parents as it has been in the past, simply because we can't afford it. But we're not dropping off kids in areas that are dangerous ... we don't want to have safety issues."
But for many working parents, it is a safety issue, and to them danger lurks everywhere.
"We have sexual predators living in our area, and to let my little girl walk down that road ain't right," said Lynette Harley, a parent of two students in the district.
"And we've got all those loose dogs in the town of Varnville, when one comes they all attack. There are pedophiles and stray dogs running all through that area. You hear it on the news all the time, people kidnapping children and the parents never find them. You mean to tell me that's okay with the educational system in Hampton County?"
McTeer said that for many years the district, at its own expense, has provided more transportation that the state required but is now unable to do so.
"Over the years, we've done more and more, but we've gotten to the point where we can't afford to do what we've done with our buses in the past," he said.
McTeer pointed out that the district only receives $200,000 from the state for transportation, and last year Hampton One spent $700,000 on that service.
"We've spent a lot of money over the years trying to put children off where parents want them, making daycare stops, and it's getting too costly. We can't spend three times what we're allotted in the face of budget cuts. We understand it's causing problems, but we just don't have the money."
Parents counter that they pay taxes for the schools and expect their children to be provided for.
"What do we pay school taxes for?" asked Shameka Capers, who lives in Hampton and has two children, ages 5 and 7, in the district. Both Capers and her husband work out of town, and daycare is their only option.
"There are a lot of sex offenders in Hampton County, and I'm sure they read the paper, too," she added. "A 5-year-old and a 7-year-old walking is unacceptable. If something happens to them, is the district going to take responsibility? I guess the only thing we can do is hope and pray nothing happens to them."
McTeer added that to provide bussing to every daycare in the county would require five additional buses and five more drivers.
"I understand parental concerns, I have total sympathy, but we just don't have the money to provide a level of service beyond what the state requires," he added.

Parents are outraged, concerned
Harley said that, under this new policy, her 4-year-old daughter would have to walk more than one tenth of a mile alone to her daycare. Her child gets out of school at 10:45 a.m., but Harley can't leave her job before 11 a.m. Her husband works out of town.
"I'm worried about my baby, and how can I do my job effectively when I'm worrying about my child?" said Harley. "She's only 4- years old, she doesn't need to be walking down that road. I don't understand why it's such a big deal. It can't use that much more gas to go down that road and turn around. I know there are budget constraints, but they are our future. The safety of our children is the most important thing."
Capers said that the district notified parents of the new policy just two weeks before school began.
"Had they given us more time, we could have been prepared for it. The district put parents in an awkward position."
Several parents said that they have contacted school and district officials, but were unsatisfied with the answers they got.

Daycare operators speak out
Shanise Mallory operates a daycare in Varnville that serves up to a dozen children each day, with no staff but herself. She says that according to SLED data there are two known sex offenders registered within blocks of her business. The bus stops more than one tenth of a mile from her front door.
"You can get into trouble for leaving your child in a car while you go into a grocery store, how can they let your child walk from one point to another unsupervised?' she said. "It can be pouring down rain, and the children will still have to walk. We have neighbors who have dogs, we have sex offenders. My main concerns are for the 4-year-olds. They're releasing them to walk unsupervised, and that's scary for a 4-year-old. That's too far to walk."
Mallory has considered options, and even thought about giving the bus driver her cell phone number, so she can get a call when the bus arrives, and then try to haul all the children out to the bus stop. But that plan wouldn't work if it was raining.
"I can't just go to the road, and leave the rest of the kids unsupervised. I'll have to figure something out, but it'll be costly and timely. But my main concern is the safety and well being of these kids."
Deborah Scott owns and operates Children's Keepers Learning Center, a facility at 103 North Hoover St., in Hampton that serves 40 children. Under this policy, she will have at least 13 children, from pre-K to third grade, walking from Ben Hazel, along the secondary road frequented by school buses, parents in cars, and other traffic, past one business and several homes, to the intersection of Highway 601 North, where they have to turn left at a car wash to get to her front door.
"To me, it's very dangerous," she said. "You've got kids running in the road, unsupervised, with pedophiles and molesters all over the place. What if somebody grabs a kid? Then what? It'll be too late."
She added that several buses go past her business every day, and there is even a stop sign there, where buses have to stop.
"They're not going out of their way to put the kids out here. The kids have to walk because you're out of money? It's not fair to the parents who pay taxes in Hampton County."

What are the options?
"We're obviously not going to say that nothing is going to change," said McTeer. "We've been struggling with this, and we're not completely satisfied with where we're at. We're not satisfied with providing less service, but we don't have the resources in the past to provide the services we have in the past. We can't take that full responsibility for the day cares, they need to get involved with this, too."
He pointed out that two daycares in the county currently operate their own buses, and more daycares should adapt and look at options such as adding staff to meet children at designated stops. Or parents should find older children to escort the little ones to where they need to be.
For parents, the options are simple but not easy.
"It's come down to two things," said Harley. "Sit there at work and pray that my daughter made it home safe and sound, or pull her out of Pre-K, and she'll be behind the other kids, and that's not fair to her. I've got bills to pay, but if it comes down to it, I'll lose my job for my child. What else am I supposed to do?"
For others, where pulling their child is not an option, it's either quit their jobs, or stay at work and worry about their kids.
"Do we quit our jobs, or hope and pray our kids are going to be all right?" said Capers.

What do you think?
Concerned parents say that they plan to attend the next school board meeting, scheduled for Monday, Aug. 23 at the District Office in Varnville. There will be a Board Listens session at 6 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m. Both are open to the public.
And you can also voice your concerns online at www.hamptoncountyguardian.com.