Walking to or from school won’t be a safe option for students at one Killeen middle school in the upcoming school year, according to school officials. “As previously discussed, there is no safe walking path to (Jimmie Don Aycock Middle School). Therefore, students will not be allowed to walk to or from school this year,” according to the school’s online newsletter, published earlier this month.
“To ensure the safety of our students (our number one priority), we have collaborated with KISD Transportation to create a comprehensive transportation plan.” After the Herald published this story to kdhnews.com Wednesday, officials with KISD changed the wording of the newsletter to read, “students are discouraged from walking to or from school this year.
” School officials removed the portion that said “students will not be allowed to walk to or from school this year.” With classes set to start Aug. 14, Aycock Middle School is Killeen ISD’s newest school in south Killeen along Chaparral Road, a two-lane road.
The new school was dedicated last month, however, there are no sidewalks leading to the school. Following pleas from concerned parents, Killeen ISD bus routes for all students at Jimmie Don Aycock Middle School are now in place, including shuttle routes to nearby neighborhoods. According to the Aycock Middle School’s online newsletter, students can opt-in for transportation to and from school, regardless of their distance from the school.
For school-sponsored activities outside of the regular bus routes, KISD Transportation will provide a shuttle between the school and the sidewalk into the neighborhood of Yowell Ranch at Chaparral High School. Students within the two-mile walking radius will receive a sticker on their ID that allows them to use the shuttle. Students not staying for after-school activities must either ride the bus home immediately after school or enroll in the Boys and Girls Club until the shuttle is available.
Aycock Middle has a capacity for 1,350 students. The lack of sidewalks and heavy traffic during certain times of day has been an issue for residents in the area, and their complaints have made it up to the Killeen City Council and KISD school board. At the July 16 school board meeting, south Killeen resident James Sills pointed out that there is no interconnecting sidewalk between Aycock Middle and nearby Chaparral High School that students walking or biking could safely use.
Sills asked board members to consider “even one child who must walk on an unprotected, unlit, narrow dirt shoulder next to what will be an extremely busy road is one too many. It’s unacceptable that this board can prioritize their ‘wants’ over the needs to provide safe and accessible passage for students trying to walk or bike to school.” Sills also brought up this issue at a Killeen town hall meeting recently where Killeen City Council members and city staff were on hand to hear from residents.
”The city stated this was a Bell County-KISD issue since that portion of Chaparral was county and KISD was in-charge of the JDA Middle School construction project,” Sills said. “I know (City Councilman Ramon) Alvarez has been a proponent of this sidewalk addition, but at the same time, there isn’t much the city can do,” Sills said he was told by Alvarez that this portion of Chaparral Road will not be reconstructed by the city in the overall Chaparral Road project. Sills said he reached out to county and school district officials, but received a limited response.
He asked about a possible interlocal agreement to expedite the construction process and received no response. He reached out to Bell County Commissioner Bobby Whitson, who confirmed that the city could do little for this project, saying the county does not maintain nor construct sidewalks on county roads. Additionally, there are right-of-way and private properties along this stretch of road that would require land acquisition, either through donation or purchase.
Sills said he spoke to Adam Rich, KISD’s assistant superintendent of facilities, who said they originally estimated construction of this sidewalk with the Aycock Middle Scohol project. However, it was going to require drainage modifications, right-of-way/private property acquisition, and the actual sidewalk construction, which escalated costs. According to Sills, Rich told the board at the Aug.
9, 2022, board meeting that the estimated cost was $375,000. In the board minutes from that meeting it reads: “The Board discussed the precedent it would set if the district were to construct sidewalks that fall under the responsibility of the county or the city, and asked that the district implore the responsible party to plan and timely complete this task for the safety of students.” It isn’t clear whether this was done or who the “responsible party” was.
In an email to the Herald, Sills said, “the bottom line is they’ve had three-plus years to address this and no one is committing to resolving this issue prior to school starting ...
or even in the very near term.” Added Sills: “I do applaud KISD for expanding their bus routes, but this will also come with costs and resources which will probably exceed the original $375,000 estimate over the long term.”.
