Students walk home past sex offenders

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - Impatiently walking down the sidewalk across the street from Deerpark Middle School, Tina Tsuei asked students she passed for her daughter’s whereabouts. If they missed each other, it might mean her daughter would have to walk past 26 registered sex offenders on the way home.

“She’s really late,” Tsuei explained. “This is unlike her.”

Since the beginning of this school year, Tsuei has been carpooling with other parents to pick up her own sixth-grader and three other girls.

"Yeah, it's made for quite the traffic, as you can see,” she said, pointing down the line of parked vehicles all the way to Anderson Mill Rd. “It's really half an hour before school gets out. Cars are already starting to come and line up, so you don't have to wait so long to come and pick up your child."

The traffic along the street grew significantly after the Round Rock Independent School District’s school board cut several so-called Hazardous Transportation routes last spring. Starting this semester, twelve of the district’s schools lost a string of buses, which previously carried children living within two miles of their schools.

• Berkman Elementary
• Caraway Elementary
• Forest North Elementary
• Gattis Elementary
• Laurel Mountain Elementary
• Live Oak Elementary
• Old Town Elementary
• Spicewood Elementary
• Voigt Elementary
• Wells Branch Elementary
• Deerpark Middle School
• Ridgeview Middle School

The district said that move impacted about 1,300 students, saving about $364,000 in transportation costs. A hazardous transportation study showed several roadways and walkways across this area became safer over the years.

Some parents object, saying sex offenders were dangers the district never really considered.

"Too many things can happen,” said Vicki Marietta, another Deerpark parent.

Texas State Code says a hazardous route is “where no walkway is provided and children must walk along or cross a freeway or expressway, an underpass, an overpass or a bridge, an uncontrolled major traffic artery, an industrial or commercial area, or another comparable condition.”

After the bus loss, about 200 Deerpark students had to find another way to and from school. Walking seemed the most convenient, living within that two-mile radius.

"Be in groups,” crossing guard Fran Fox told students leaving the school. “You don't stop for anything…get on home as quick as possible."

Cross the street with Fox in the YouTube tour below:

Fox said she regularly checks the Texas Sex Offender Database online. The site confirms 26 registered sex offenders live within two miles of Deerpark.

Check out the interactive map of the registered sex offenders and their profiles surrounding Deerpark Middle School below:

“You don’t see groups of kids (walking),” Marietta said waiting inside her mini-van, “because everybody pretty much feels the way I do, so it’s easier just to come get them ourselves.”

A Williamson County Sheriff’s deputy patrols the area around the school throughout the day, but the agency’s spokesperson said parents and students should still be aware of the surrounding area.

"They (sex offenders) walk among us everyday,” said Sgt. John Foster. “They live in our general areas."

Looking at every affected school in the district, the number of registered sex offenders living within a two-mile radius of each campus goes up to 141. That total alarmed a group of parents at some of last spring’s school board meetings.

Williamson County sheriff Sgt. John Foster talks about sex offenders living near schools:

Terri Short was one of those who told the board about the “hazards” it wasn’t considering in the transportation study.

"I feel like they have to provide a safe environment for our children,” Short said.

"When you're looking at hazardous transportation,” explained JoyLynn Occhiuzzi, the district’s communications director, “you are not allowed to look at how many sex offenders live within a two-mile radius. The state looks at traffic hazards."

Occhiuzzi said it's simply a routine route evaluation every school district in the state faces. Checking every Austin-area district, KXAN found Pflugerville ISD was the only other to say it cut buses in the last year. Nine of its schools lost routes, all with registered sex offenders living nearby.

"If there are sex offenders on that route,” said Occhiuzzi, “the parent needs to make the decision on if they are going to let their child walk that route."

Short said, "It takes seconds to snatch a child, and so my concern is that it's going to happen."

Parents point out a kidnapping case in the neighboring Austin ISD from late September. A nine-year-old girl is now safe after an alleged abduction on her walk to school. Charles Butcher, 42, the man police arrested, is a sex offender - he just failed to register in Texas.

Butcher had been convicted of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl in Korea back in 1991, when he was in the military. In 2005, when he was living in Ohio, he was convicted of abducting a child using a weapon. When Butcher failed to update his status with Ohio authorities, they found out he moved to Austin and alerted police there.

The abduction triggered AISD to make a change in the bus route, moving the bus stop about 900 feet to the girl's apartment complex.

"We can't make them paint their house purple or pink,” said Foster. “Sex offenders know what the rules are."

Finally spotting her daughter and the other girls, Tsuei crossed the street to meet them. Even knowing where the registered offenders live near Deerpark, she said there are dangers parents can't predict.

“These days,” she said, “it really does feel like a different era than when I was growing up.”

Until buses become an option again, she said she won't worry about a walk, and might continuing to carpool until her daughter is old enough to drive.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office want to remind parents registered sex offenders live legally near almost every campus across central Texas under the terms of their punishment, not just those with recently eliminated bus routes.

They said there are at least three things parents can do to further protect their children:

• Drive your child or find a ride with someone you trust
• Talk to your child about the dangers, urging them to walk in groups and pay attention along the way
• Check out the Texas Sex Offender Database online to know where registered offenders live in your area

In 2010, the Round Rock ISD plans to cut hazardous transportation routes for three more schools: The Elementary in Stone Oak, Middle School #10, and Cedar Ridge High School. However, this is a pre-emptive move, as those schools are not yet open.