Each morning, Amaira Caballero walks four children along a busy, four-lane road to school.
While the conditions are unfavorable, the 20-minute walk is the only option she has.
Caballero, a 30-year-old stay-at-home mom, lives in Hidden Oaks, a neighborhood that borders a field sitting on the outskirts of Glen Springs Elementary School. Like other families in the area, she and her kids used to walk through the field to get to school.
On Jan. 5, the Glen Springs Elementary School principal emailed parents about a new fence that would be installed around the field, according to Caballero.
Parents were told the gate would be installed by the end of the week. It was completed the afternoon of Jan. 6, students' first day back from winter break, Caballero said.
Her children, second and third graders, have been diagnosed with autism, ADHD and anxiety. They didn’t walk home from school on their own until the end of last year.
“For me, to let them do things on their own has been kind of hard, more on me than them,” she said.
With their route to school now blocked, the family has faced some challenges. They only have one car, which Caballero’s husband takes to work every day, she said.
Caballero’s previous seven-minute walk to the school now takes 20. She is accompanied not only by her school-age kids, but also her younger child and another child she babysits.
“My kids know basic sidewalk safety,” Caballero said. “But going down 39[th Avenue] — even if it's those five minutes that we have to walk through there — is kind of nerve-wracking.”
Sidewalks less than 4 feet from the road running parallel are considered hazardous student walking conditions under state statute. In the event of a hazardous path, the statute requires the school board to provide transportation for students while the condition is corrected “within a reasonable period of time.”
Caballero has contacted the school about correcting its “safety walk protocol” but hasn’t heard back yet, she said.
Other parents have faced similar challenges following the installment of the new fence.
Paul Cingolani, 64, moved to the Hidden Oaks neighborhood with his wife and two kids over winter break. They were drawn to the area because of the field, which provided the kids with a quick path to school.
They were shocked to find the area closed on their first day of school, he said.
“That's why I moved here — because that little field in the back … was going to be our own little private entry to school, super safe for our kids,” he said.
The family paid more for the house, excited to have easy access to the school — but now, Cingolani said, they just feel stuck.
To him, the solution is simple: The school board should add a gate that allows students to enter the campus through the field, he added.
Another portion of the newly installed fence, which borders a separate neighborhood, has a gate that can be used to enter and leave the school.
According to Alachua County Public Schools spokesperson Jackie Johnson, the solution isn’t as simple as Cingolani suggests.
“It may be an inconvenience,” she said, “but it's an inconvenience that is outweighed by the additional safety that’s provided for the students, staff and visitors at the school.”
The new fencing, which represents a district-wide focus on school safety initiatives, corresponds with recommendations from local law enforcement and security requirements at the state level, Johnson said.
The new enclosed perimeter complies with a Florida bill passed in May 2024, which requires that all access points to the school property remain closed and locked throughout the day.
The district plans to add gates to the field, but they won’t be readily accessible as a route to school — instead offered only as emergency exits.
“There will be two gates that have panic hardware,” Johnson said, “which is basically a push bar so that people can leave the campus in an emergency.”
For 45-year-old Hidden Oaks resident Kenny Silver, the fence represents a problem with school board “overreach.”
Silver received no notice for the fence’s installation, he said, finding the gate newly installed upon his return from holiday vacation.
“I get it,” Silver said. “It's not my property, but I also think there's tremendous value in offering some green space, and there's not a lot around.”
Neighborhood kids would go to the field to play, he said. Now, the space sits unused.
He hopes the school will change its decision and add a gate that grants residents access to the field, he said.
Contact Grace Larson at glarson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @graceellarson.
Grace is a first year journalism student, serving as city/county commission reporter for the Fall 2025 semester. While she has not previously been on staff, her early journalism experience can be attributed to Devil's Advocate, her high school newspaper. When she is not writing, Grace enjoys staying active by running, weight lifting, hiking and doing yoga. Her other pastimes include thrifting and working on random art projects.
