Escambia Considers Moving School Bus Stops That Avoid Sex Offenders

April 15, 2011

The Escambia County School District is looking at new bus stop policies in an effort they say will keep children safe from sexual offenders and predators.

The district is set to vote at a meeting next week to lower the distance between bus stops and some sex offenders. Under the current rules, bus stops are not allowed within 1,000 feet of a registered offender or predator’s home. That policy, according to district officials, forces some children to walk long distances to a bus stop, perhaps putting them in greater risk of contact with a sex offender.

Across Escambia County, officials say 44 percent of all public school children live within 1,000 feet of a registered sex offender.

The new policy under consideration would follow current state law by keeping bus stops 1,000 or more feet from a sexual predator or offender being monitored by the state. But in the case of other offenders, the limit would be lowered to 100 feet.

The final vote on any bus stop changes will come at the next meeting of the Escambia County School Board next Tuesday.

Comments

18 Responses to “Escambia Considers Moving School Bus Stops That Avoid Sex Offenders”

  1. Joe on April 16th, 2011 10:26 pm

    And not all on the list are male!
    there are many, many females listed here and nationwide. to think this is a male only issue is totally wrong. people need to change their mind set and look around.

  2. huh on April 16th, 2011 12:34 am

    @whitepunknotondope

    Death threats over the internet isn’t very smart.. Also who are you to judge them? You do know the sex offender list is full of teens that had sex with a slight age difference and people that peed behind bushes and got caught. Not everyone on the list molests children.

  3. Glad they're going to change it on April 15th, 2011 10:42 pm

    So my kids can finally get off at their usual stop instead of the “new, improved and safer” one that they’ve had to walk to this year? Thank God!!

    This law has good intentions, but it winds up making it worse for the kids. When they moved my kids’ stop, they were actually CLOSER to his house than the old one because they measure to the front corner of the property, despite the fact that he lives on the very back corner that comes MUCH closer to the bus stop. Plus, they have to walk down the main road, even though all 8 of the kids who get on and off the bus at that stop live on the side road, some of them way past his driveway, so yes, this is making them walk a lot further and, if he IS a problem, putting them in more danger.

    This man has kept to himself as long as we’ve been here. I’ve never had any problem with him. My kids know the situation and steer clear. If other parents would teach their kids the same thing (OR if they’re too small to understand, make sure that they, as parents, are there to protect them) we wouldn’t have had to go through this all year long. My kids have had to walk an extra 150 yards down the main, very busy road in the cold, the rain, the fog, when they could have been right here where they should have been all along.

  4. poohbear on April 15th, 2011 6:33 pm

    You can go to Family Watchdog and put in your zip code and it will tell you of all the sex offenders in your home town.

  5. stop them on April 15th, 2011 1:17 pm

    To Joe:

    Out of 10 sex offenders how many would you say are female? I’m meaning on the average.

  6. whitepunknotondope on April 15th, 2011 12:05 pm

    “…Maybe he will never do it again…”

    Yeah and maybe they will. I vote for never giving the chance.

  7. Joe on April 15th, 2011 11:45 am

    to “Stop Them – why don’t they castrate all the sex offenders?

    How do you castrate a female? You seem to make an assumption that all sex offenders are male!

  8. stop them on April 15th, 2011 10:47 am

    why don’t they castrate all the sex offenders?

  9. David Huie Green on April 15th, 2011 10:05 am

    REGARDING:
    “officials say 44 percent of all public school children live within 1,000 feet of a registered sex offender”

    Wonderful world in which we live, isn’t it?

    Even so, it may not be as bad as it first appears. An offender is a person who has violated a law regarding sexual conduct. Maybe he will never do it again.

    A sexual predator, on the other hand, sees people as targets of prey and will likely offend if given the chance. I suggest a GPS monitor on such with audio/video recording at all time. It might help him keep his hands off children for his pleasure.

    I was once asked if a student crossed in front of a sexual offender. They were considering moving the bus stop if so. It turned out the kid didn’t cross in front because the gentleman in question lived ten feet away in the next house over.

    It got me to wondering so I checked out the others in the area. I found one living at the same address of two of my riders. He even had the same last name. I thought, well, maybe it was a Romeo/Juliet situation with him 17 and his girlfriend 16. But it wasn’t. His conviction involved sexual battery on a woman over the age of 70 (along with a host of other crimes) with him still under 25.

    He was most likely either an older brother or a young uncle (possibly a cousin) of the riders. They seemed like good kids. I wouldn’t bet on their futures, though. Predators don’t care if you’re kin, just if you’re available.

    David for perfect protection
    in an imperfect world

  10. Atmore G on April 15th, 2011 9:30 am

    @2 cents I agree with you.. Move the sex-offenders, or better yet, require them to get their location approved before they actually move in..

  11. whitepunknotondope on April 15th, 2011 9:29 am

    “Once released from jail society should re-integrate them and all other felons without any further restriction,”

    I have another better idea: a sex offender hunting club!

    We could get together on Friday nights, select a sex offender at random (there’s plenty to choose from), them hunt them down and bag ‘em like animals! I wouldn’t suffer any silly feelings of remorse, would you? If not, you’re in the club!

    Who’s with me?

  12. Tonya on April 15th, 2011 8:44 am

    I know my child has to walk further down a busy road to get to her bus stop because of the sex offender rule. Lessening the distance would mean she could actually stand in our yard where she can be better protected. Another child has to be driven a good distance down the same road to stand at the bus stop with my daughter because their neighbor is the offender. They live NEXT DOOR to the guy. If he doesn’t mess with the kids on Saturday or Sunday or at night while they are sleeping or when no one is home, what makes you think he would mess with them while they were standing on a busy street where literally hundreds of people could see him? AND, who’s to say the sex offender charge didn’t come from being 18 and having sex with his 16 year old girlfriend (it happens). It takes common sense. Lessen the distance and then if a parent has an issue with where the childs bus stop is, let them be responsible for getting the child to a new stop or taking them to school.

  13. huh on April 15th, 2011 8:27 am

    Seems like fear mongering at best, its just going to waste gas for state and cause the students to have to work further. If they are released from jail then they have severed their time.

    Once released from jail society should re-integrate them and all other felons without any further restriction, otherwise, don’t let them out if they have not paid their time

  14. Concerned Mom on April 15th, 2011 8:26 am

    Why are we accommodating the sex offenders? The bus stops should be set and the sex offenders should not be allowed to come beyond the boundaries. Also, is there anything keeping a sex offender from driving his daughter to a bus stop and waiting there in the car with her? We have one in our neigborhood and anytime he is there we do not let our child stand at the bus stop. We have to take her to another bus stop or drive her to school. Why should we have to put ourselves out for him? I don’t believe he should be allowed to be that close to a bus stop where children are waiting for the bus.

  15. 2 cents on April 15th, 2011 7:56 am

    How bout move the offenders. They are the criminals here! Move all of them to there own perverted island. uhh nasty perves….

  16. ttt on April 15th, 2011 7:39 am

    really !!! get a clue escambia county ! so your going to make our childeren pay for for there wrong .

  17. whitepunknotondope on April 15th, 2011 6:56 am

    “Across Escambia County, officials say 44 percent of all public school children live within 1,000 feet of a registered sex offender.’

    There’s no question this area is CHOCK FULL of sex offenders and perverts.

    I’ve got a better idea: throw sex offenders in PRISON and let their sorry carcasses rot until they die. Yeah, that would put a smile on my face!

  18. Neighbor on April 15th, 2011 6:16 am

    So if you move the bus stop 1000 feeet away from the offender today the children are safe (OK?), then the offender moves. Can they move within the 1000 feet or is there something keeping them within boundries? 100 feet? My property is wider than that !!! How about the Azores!