Every morning, children walk across a busy Central Florida highway to get to school, and parents say drivers aren’t always paying attention. Now, with a plan to consolidate two Belleview elementary schools, some families fear the situation is about to get worse.

Angelia Peloubet drops her grandchildren off at Belleview Elementary each day. She parks at a nearby church and walks them across a crosswalk on Southeast Highway 484, a one-lane-each-way road she says becomes dangerous during morning drop-off around 7 a.m.

“It depends sometimes on the day of week and whether the Belleview Police Department’s out there,” Peloubet said.

She says when officers are present, drivers are more careful. Without them, the situation deteriorates quickly.

“When the police are not there to monitor, they’re speeding. They don’t try to stop — they try to roll through the stop instead of stopping for the crossing guard,” Peloubet said. “Sometimes we actually have to get involved and sometimes step out and kind of yell or scream to get them to pay attention to what they’re doing.”

Consolidation plan raises new worries

Marion County Schools is moving forward with a plan to combine Belleview Elementary and Belleview-Santos Elementary into a single campus. The consolidation would not take effect until 2028, but Peloubet is already concerned about what that means for morning traffic.

“Unfortunately, the numbers do not add up, and I’m not sure how this is going to fare for everyone’s morning commute,” she said.

District points to new design

Marion County Schools told News 6 the new facility design includes “multiple significant-length traffic lanes to accommodate large amounts of car rider traffic.” The district believes the redesign will help take traffic off surrounding roads.

Attendance boundaries are also expected to change as part of the consolidation to address overcrowding. Rezoning could send some students who currently attend either Belleview school to other campuses.