State lawmaker introduces legislation to prevent school bus stops near homes of registered sex offenders

At least one Pennsylvania lawmaker wants school districts to be more careful when choosing school bus stops.

A proposal from state Rep. Jeremy Shaffer, R-Pine, a member of the state House Education Committee, would prohibit school bus stops from being within 300 feet of a Megan’s Law offender’s residence.

The proposal comes as parents in the Deer Lakes School District are fighting to move a stop they say puts their children at risk.

A bus stop was added to the district’s route at the intersection of Ford and Liberty streets in West Deer this school year. Parents began requesting the district move the bus stop when they learned it is in front of a registered sex offender’s home.

A search of Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law offender database shows two registered sex offenders live on the street where the bus stop is located.

In a statement to TribLive, district spokesperson Shawn Annarelli said the district transports 1,700 students and receives hundreds of requests to move bus stops based on a variety of reasons, including parent and student work schedules, marital situations, walking distance and bus stop visibility from homes.

“These reasons, although a concern for parents, cannot always be accommodated. The current bus stops were determined based on considerations of both safety, efficiency and the Pennsylvania School Code,” the statement reads. “Bus stops, many of which are not near sidewalks due to the rural makeup of the district, may change from year to year and vary from elementary to secondary schools.

“The district encourages parents and guardians to determine the safest forms of transportation to and from school campuses and to and from bus stops.

“In this particular instance, three alternatives have been offered but the district’s additional options have been declined (by parents).”

Parents in the neighborhood, some of whom attended school board meetings to request the stop be changed, have not responded to TribLive requests for comment on the issue.

When some Deer Lakes parents reached out to Shaffer, he decided to walk the same streets students do to get to the stop, he said.

“I saw where the bus stop is and realized after doing some research there’s really nothing in state law that specifies where bus stops can and cannot be,” Shaffer said. “I think that’s a flaw in our state law, and I introduced this bill to try to address it.”

The bill places responsibility on school districts to make sure stops aren’t located within 300 feet of a sex offender’s home. Shaffer said in situations where a stop would need to be placed closer than the stipulated distance, the district is required to notify parents and allow parents to specify an alternate location if one is available.

“It would allow parents a mechanism to challenge that bus stop placement,” Shaffer said. “I think this is really just in the interest of child safety. … It allows parents to be informed, and it allows parents to help move a bus stop because of a safety issue.”

Shaffer called the bill “common-sense legislation.”

He said the legislation builds on a bill he introduced this year that would ban sexually violent predators from living within 2,500 feet of schools and day care centers.

“This is not about punishing (sex offenders who’ve served their time) more,” Shaffer said. “This is simply about empowering parents who are concerned about their children’s safety to be able to have a safe place for their children to wait at a bus stop.”

Different levels to the problem

Many school districts in the state are having issues with a school bus driver shortage, Shaffer said.

“This is often pushing school districts to do things that are not in the best interest of the children,” he said.

He said the shortage causes students to wait outside for the bus at “non-optimal” times in “non-optimal” locations affecting students’ safety and their ability to thrive in school.

In order to make a bus route work in a timely manner, some schools have placed stops closer to main roads to make it easier for buses to reach students on time, Shaffer said.

With more bus drivers, legislation like Shaffer’s would make it less likely for students to have to walk farther from their homes to reach a bus stop that satisfies the district’s safety requirements as well as parents’ concerns.

Legislative outlook

Introducing legislation is a slow and steady process.

“The wheels of government do turn. They just turn very slowly,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer has officially introduced the bill in the state House system, and it was sent to the House Education Committee. At the discretion of the committee’s chair, there will be a hearing for the bill and committee members will take a vote, Shaffer said.

If approved, it would go to the state House for a vote, and then it would head the the state Senate for the same procedure.

Shaffer said if all goes according to plan, moving at top speed, residents could see the bill become a law in a year or two.

“I think government is supposed to be responsive. It’s supposed to be listening to citizens’ concerns and that’s what I strive to do,” Shaffer said. “Unfortunately, government does not often move at the speed we want it to move at. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to do the right thing.”