Photo by Skip Lawrence Students board the shuttle bus at the intersection of Addison Woods Road and Connor Place in the Villages of Urbana to take them safely across Md. 80 to Urbana Middle School on the first day of school Monday. Back-to-school index page Going back home ... for school Crossing guards, kids on the road again Glitch slows lunch lines • Slide Show: Back to school • Audio Slide Show: Teacher Erin Cline leads her class through the first day

Ms. Carter-Ceppi, a Frederick County Public Schools bus driver in training, was asked to stand at intersections near the high school to make sure students knew how to safely cross the street. She also instructed students on their way to the new Urbana Middle School on Pontius Court.

The students who walked to the schools Monday decided not to use a new shuttle service to get across the five-lane Md. 80. The shuttle buses were used for the first time as a response to parent requests for busing in the Villages of Urbana and the Urbana Highlands.

Earlier this year, FCPS officials told parents their children would not be bused to Urbana Middle School because a stop light at the intersection of Md. 80 and Pontius Court made it safe for their children to cross. The Board of Education decided to extend the service to the high school.

The shuttles, which cost $7,600 to run for a school year, pick students up from two sites in the Villages of Urbana , taking them on a five- to 10-minute ride across Md. 80 to the schools.

Veronica Lowe, director of transportation, said 51 and 50 students walked to the high school and middle school, respectively. Ms. Lowe estimated about 20 high school and between 80 and 100 middle school students rode the shuttle.

Exact totals were not available, she said, because bus drivers charged with keeping count were still on the road late Monday afternoon.

Lynn Cook, a parent in the Villages, walked her daughter to the shuttle on the first day of school.

She said she will trust her daughter, who attends the middle school, to walk to the shuttle stop with friends. She said she’s glad FCPS has provided a shuttle, but would prefer full-service busing in her community.

“Crossing the road with the high school right next door with those 16-year-old drivers is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Ms. Cook said.

Tuscarora High School students who live in the Kingsbrook, Farmbrook and Ballenger Crossing subdivisions also received shuttle service Monday.

Shuttle stops at Corporate Drive/Brandford Lane and Ballenger Creek Middle School took students across Ballenger Creek Pike, a road parents believe is unsafe for children to cross.

Last fall, FCPS attempted to eliminate bus service when a traffic light was installed in front of Tuscarora High. Full-service bussing was continued until the end of the school year after parents complained about student safety.

The Board of Education decided to use shuttles this year in place of full-service bussing. The Tuscarora shuttles carried 22 students in the morning and 43 in the afternoon.

Dagmar Kolarik, a parent of a ninth-grader at Tuscarora, said the shuttle system is illogical.

The first morning shuttle was late picking up students up at Brandford Lane and the afternoon shuttle left before her son could board, forcing him to cross Ballenger Creek Pike on foot, she said.

Ms. Kolarik said a number of parents dropping children off at the shuttle stop caused traffic congestion near the school Monday morning.

“I’m angry because here we are spending taxpayer money for stupidity,” Ms. Kolarik said Monday afternoon.

Ms. Lowe said the Brandford Lane shuttle was late Monday morning, missing its first scheduled pick-up. She did not provide details about why it was late.

As for the afternoon mishap, Ms. Lowe said shuttles leave from the high school at 2:25 and 2:35 p.m. and if students miss the first shuttle, they should wait for the second to arrive.

“When they dismiss the students for the buses, they need to get right out there and catch that bus,” she said.

Studies of walking routes and busing options are being completed in both the Urbana and Tuscarora areas. FCPS policy is middle and high school students who live within 1.5 miles of school do not receive bus service unless the most practical, direct walking route is more than 1.75 miles. About 84 percent of the county’s 40,000 students are bused to school, and it is unclear how much it would cost to add the rest.

Students in the Tuscarora and Urbana areas who receive shuttle service live within that walking distance; shuttle service is being provided until the studies are completed and evaluated, which will take about two months.

While the level of high school student ridership at both Tuscarora and Urbana was low, Ms. Lowe said, the shuttles will be provided as long as at least one child rides.