CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Thousands of parents are trying to figure out how they'll be getting their children to and from school this fall.
CMS budget cuts caused major changes in how students get to magnet schools and some parents say that it's making it impossible for their children to stay at these special schools.
Brooke Strayhorn is one of those students and she's used to walking home from the school bus stop.
“It used to drop me off right down the street,” she says.
As of now, the sophomore at CMS magnet school Phillip O. Berry will have to take a bus to another CMS school, Waddell, and that's as far as the bus will go.
“That’s a long walk,” she says. “I am not going to walk home from there.”
Her mom doesn’t want her dealing with that either.
”It’s about 10 miles from here,” says Robin Strayhorn. “And it’s not in a good neighborhood.”
CMS is limiting busing from all 40 magnet schools to try to cut spending.
The district says it's up to parents to get kids to and from these specialized schools and if it's an issue, parents have the option to pull their kids from the magnet schools.
But Robin Strayhorn says pulling Brooke from Phillip O. Berry isn’t an option because the schools in their area aren’t up to par.
“It was underperforming,” she says. “Didn't offer programming we were looking at.”
So, for now, the Strayhorns are trying something old school -- parents will be carpooling to make sure their children get what they need.
