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Wheelchair-bound student can't catch bus from Jacksonville's Northside to Atlantic Coast High

The school bells ring in Duval County on Monday, and one local family worries their son won’t be able to get a ride to his school.

Chanda Goodman said her son has special needs and has a scholarship to attend the school of his choice.

She says 14-year-old Benjamin has muscular dystrophy and is in a wheelchair, and when he toured Atlantic High School he fell in love with their faculty, atmosphere and programs that suits both his educational and physical needs.

“We looked at various different schools through the county fair and Benjamin really liked Atlantic Coast for what they offered for TV production," said Chanda Goodman.

She said they then found out after he was enrolled that there is no transportation provided for that school at all from where they live on the Northside.

We reached out to Duval County Public Schools and found there is no route from where the Goodmans live to Atlantic Coast High School, but there is a bus route to Ed White Military Academy. The district offered to take Benjamin there.

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The district also said if no route exists, it’s not legally required to create one.

Goodman works full time and said her husband travels for work, leaving her with the responsibility of getting Benjamin to and from school.

She said there are also 2 other families with students in Benjamin’s grade, who are also in wheelchairs wanting to go to Atlantic Coast. She says they all live in the same area on the Northside, which is roughly 22 miles from Atlantic Coast.

“It’s not as if it is one student. I would completely understand if it was just Benjamin but because there are 2 other freshman joining him that are in the same situation with a wheelchair and needing some special access, I would think they would make that accommodation,” said Goodman.

Goodman said she and her husband are now searching out other options, trying to find a company that could transport Benjamin, but most just aren’t financially possible.

We also reached out to the Director of Exceptional Education and student services to find out if anything could be done for these three families, and we are still waiting to hear back.