Caddo Parish parent with MS battles school district over busing - KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & Sports

Caddo Parish parent with MS battles school district over busing issue

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Jamaria Pea and her daughter, Jayla, 5 Jamaria Pea and her daughter, Jayla, 5
Jamaria Pea suffers from MS. Jamaria Pea suffers from MS.
SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) -

Jamaria Pea and her daughter, Jayla, are going through what many families are at this time of the year, preparing for the start of school. Jayla, 5, will be attending Queensborough Elementary, which is just 0.7 miles from her house. Unfortunately for Jamaria, her close proximity to the school is causing her extra problems.

Caddo Parish buses will not bus children that live less than one mile away from their school. To save bus room, time, and money, children who live within one mile are forced to find another route, to be dropped off, or to walk to school. Jamaria says she would love to walk her daughter to school, but she is physically unable to do so.

Jamaria has Multiple Sclerosis, and she simply can't walk her daughter that far to drop her off at school. She has been trying to get the school board to make an exception for over a year, but her efforts have been fruitless.

She refuses to let her daughter walk to school alone, a trek which would include crossing a busy roadway.

The school board won't hasn't budged on the busing rule, but there is another option. A program called YEP, or Youth Enrichment Program, allows parents to drop off a child to school long before school starts, and pick them up in the early evening. This could help some working parents, but it doesn't do much for Jamaria and Jayla.

There is a fee to place your child in the YEP program.

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