Mother gets school bus resolution after News 4 steps in

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A mother is now at ease, at least for the rest of the school year.

She has been battling Putnam City Schools after suddenly being told her 8-year-old daughter can no longer ride the bus.

The problem is, the district says they live .98 miles away from the school. They have to be at least one full mile away to use the bus.

However, she says her daughter had been riding the bus the past two years with no problems.

Juli-Anna Scherpenseel was told she lives too close to the school for her daughter to take the bus, but google maps shows the walk is 1.2 miles.

That is over the mile mark needed to take the bus, so News 4 took a walk to Coronado Elementary School to find out the distance ourselves.

After walking through winding neighborhoods and crossing busy Tulsa Avenue, our meter shows 6,868 feet, which equals about 1.3 miles, something Scherpenseel says no 8-year-old should have to walk.

"They told me that there was nothing they could do," Scherpenseel said. "It doesn't make any sense."

So, she turned to News 4 and once we looked into it, Scherpenseel says she got another response.

"I was honestly surprised at first, but he was apologetic," Scherpenseel said. "He said their systems were outdated."

We reached out to Putnam City Schools who sent us the following statement.

Putnam City Schools appreciates the cooperative efforts and collaborative discussions that took place over the past week to assess the bus boundary situation. We remain committed to ensuring that District policies and regulations are upheld while maintaining safe and efficient transportation for our students within the serviceable boundaries. After careful consideration, the student will be able to continue riding the bus for the remainder of this school year.

Putnam City Schools

A problem fixed, at least for now, and she says it is all thanks to News 4.

"All the credit goes to you, Mr. Tanner, and to News 4 like, oh, my goodness, I'm so grateful," Scherpenseel said.

She now hopes a permanent solution is next.

"He did assure me that they were going to get out, they were going to walk the routes," Scherpenseel said. "They were going to update their GPS mapping systems."

Putnam City Schools says they'll take a second look at their boundaries after this school year, and provide transportation to students within those service boundaries moving forward.