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Veronica Alvear is a bus driver for Benavides Elementary School.

But because of budget cuts, she is the only bus driver in the neighborhood leaving kids on the west side, to walk to school.

Alvear said kids aren’t safe with cars speeding through the neighborhoods and wants the city to put in sidewalks.

Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada he blames the problem on developers.

Ahumada said in the past, developers invested in building neighborhoods without sidewalks expecting the city to fix the problem later.         

"Public safety takes 57% of the budget, and that doesn’t leave much for improvement unless you come up with creative ways” said Ahumada. 

The mayor said the city is now requiring that all new neighborhoods be built with sidewalks.

While public safety may be the cities main concern, Ahumada believes it’s the parents responsibility to make sure their kid has a safe way to school.

"We can’t babysit every child, so we need to work together by raising awareness, educating people that need to take self responsibility in those areas where people may be at risk,"  Ahumada said.

But that answer is not sitting well with some parents.

While Karlla Rodriguez transports her kids to and from school, she said it is a public school funded by tax payers money and the city should be responsible for her kids safety.

Brownsville Independent School District spokesperson, Drue Brown, said they did offer a courtesy bus ride for students, but was pulled in August due to budget cuts.

The district plans to talk to the city about the sidewalk issue to ensure the safety of all students.