Many Syracuse parents are breathing a sigh of relief.

"As a parent of kids who have gone to Syracuse City School District, it's always been a struggle getting there,” said Misse Ross.

Ross says some days, her children stayed home.

"I have called a school day as a mom because the conditions weren't okay for my car to handle,” said Ross. “I wasn't sending my kids out there to walk in those conditions."

Now, hundreds of students won't have to.

The Syracuse City School Board passed a new policy that provides transportation for kindergarden through 8th grade students who live more than one mile away from school.

Before, it was a mile and a half. Now the district will provide transportation to an extra 1,100 students. 

"I'm very happy about it,” said Ross. “It's something that was a long time coming. A lot of people have been working on it for a long time."

Ross is one of them. She advocated for 8 years. Although her children are older now, she's relieved for her community.

Ross, along with the school board president, says this will help students prosper.

"We really feel that the more students that can have the transportation provided for them will make more students attend more frequently,” said Katie Sojewicz, the Syracuse City School Board of Education president. “When children are in school, they're going to learn."

"Depending on where you live in our city, some of these kids have to walk through areas known to be gang territories,” said Ross. “We don't want to expose kids to that if we can avoid it."

Now, the additional routes will keep them safe.

"Our kids are our future,” said Ross. “It's not the same world as it was when I was their age. It's not the same walk. Things have changed and we have to change with the times."

The school board hopes to provide this transportation to high school students as well. Right now, they have to live more than one and half miles from school to be eligible.