Stephanie Falter and Lisa Chambers, two concerned Godley ISD mothers, said they are pleased their children no longer wait for the bus in front of sex offenders’ homes.

“I wanted to know why my children were being dangled in front of a sex offender like a piece of candy,” Chambers said Wednesday, two days after her childrens’ bus stop was moved from across the street — where a registered sex offender lives — to in front of her house.

There was not always an issue with the bus stop, Chambers said. Up until two years ago, it was in front of her home. But when a neighbor placed large trash containers near the original bus stop, the district abruptly changed the stop to the sex offender’s driveway, she said. The man is charged with indecent sexual contact with a 7-year-old child.

 The district’s reasoning, Chambers said she was told, was that the bus driver did not have a clear line of sight when students entered or exited the bus because of the containers.

Transportation Director Joe Danna said he did not recall the reason for moving the original bus stop, but did not dispute what Chambers said.

“At the time, [May 2010] I was told I had options to take the students to a different bus stop, have them ride the county bus or take my students to and from school,” Chambers said. “Then I got angry. I asked the school why were the trash-offending neighbors not written a letter? Why was the bus route changed for the trash offender and not the sex offender?”

Down the street, Falter also lives near a sex offender. For a while her childrens’ bus stop was located near the offender’s home. That man is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of sexual indecency with a child.

“It’s a rent house,” Falter said. “We check our registry constantly, and it had just updated that a sex offender had moved in there.”

Falter’s campaign against the school district included letters to the school board, city council members and the mayor, she said.

“According to our information, a family with Godley students lived there,” Superintendent Rich Dear said of the rent house. “They moved out and then a sex offender moved in and no one knew. [Once we were aware of the situation] that bus stop was changed a few days later.”

For one reason or another, the district moved Falter’s bus stop sooner than Chambers’. The district did not give a clear answer on its reasoning.

“They couldn’t sweep [my situation] under the rug like they did with Lisa,” Falter said. “My kids are the most precious things in my life. I’m not going to let anybody hurt them, not purposefully. I was not shoved to the side. I made my case, and I wanted it heard. I blew through a blow horn.”

The district plans to use new software with better information and route planning tools to avoid similar situations in the future.

According to Danna and Dear, all district bus drivers received a map indicating where sex offenders live.

Chambers said she believes that isn’t true but is happy that her children, who are 13 and 16, no longer have to be on a sex offender’s property.

As of Wednesday, both bus stops have been moved. The district and both mothers said they are satisfied with the outcome.

What the mothers aren’t satisfied with is the possibility of the same thing happening in any number of districts and that parents may be unaware.

They also worry about the timeliness of moving bus stops when situations like this come to the district’s attention.

“We’ve got to keep our kids as far away from sex offenders and not have a bus stop at their houses,” Chambers said. “It’s as easy as going online and checking.”

Falter and Chambers contacted the office of state Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, about legislation that would require a statewide policy for school districts concerning bus stop locations.

A spokeswoman for Orr said he is looking into and researching issues brought to his attention but hasn’t finalized his legislative agenda for 2013.

“It’s awareness is all I’m looking for,” Falter said. “There have been children abducted from bus stops. That’s an invitation to a party, having the bus stops in [sex offenders’] driveways.”

Both mothers want the district to know they are not targeting GISD.

“We have wonderful teachers; we have a fantastic school,” Falter said. “So many children don’t have a voice. They have parents who don’t care or who don’t have a computer or know how to find things like that. My kids are lucky, their father is a police officer, so we always know what’s going on around us ... I don’t want to bash my ISD.”

Chambers agreed.

“I love my school district,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My kids love their teachers, and you know, we’re just glad this got resolved. Maybe not in such a timely manner. I think Dear has been a good change for the school. It’s just that, dang, it shouldn’t have taken two years.”