D51 Parents react to first day of school

Thousands of Mesa County Students returned to school this morning.

Many parents had concerns about busing changes and the congestion it would cause around the schools.

"He’s nervous and I’m nervous," Tonya Sandoval said.

As Sandoval dropped six-year-old Cameron off at Chipeta Elementary, she expected things to be more hectic.

"Actually there wasn't a lot of traffic when we came this morning," Sandoval said.

Sandoval was like many parents this morning.

Instead of riding the bus, parents drove their children to school.

In order to save money, District 51 had dropped 16 bus routes and said elementary students who live within two miles of school had to find their own way to class.

Sandoval says she'll be driving Cameron to class every morning.

Angel Bradley and her first grader walked to school today, hoping to avoid congestion.

"That’s why we didn't drive because we thought that, but it was perfect we didn’t' see cars backed up,” Bradley said. “It ran smoothly so we're pretty happy."

This morning things looked a lot different at Redlands Middle School.

Traffic was backed up all the way onto Broadway but Principal Reed says that's typical.

"That is not unusual for Redlands on any given day as the majority of our parents transport their children to school anyway," Reed explained.

Christy McGee, with School District 51, says, "Schools have kind of made some adjustments and were prepared today for traffic and so there weren't any major safety or busing issues and no incidents."

Now that school is back in session the Grand Junction Police Department will continue to patrol school zones on a regular basis, so remember to slow down and watch out for kids who are walking and riding their bikes to and from school.

Officers issued 4 tickets Monday to people who were speeding in school zones. All four were in the Nisley Elementary school zone.