Parents of non-driving students are often forced to take time out of their days to pick up their kids from school, especially if the students stay after and do not have a “late bus” available. District 95 cancelled the late bus because of budget issues, but the price of a couple buses for the students is worth the money.
In 2007, the District decided to cut the high school late bus because of budget cuts and lack of ridership, according to Karen Mlynek-Janschutz, Director of Transportation.
Students have multiple reasons to stay after school, which is always encouraged by the school; however, the school is not providing transportation for these students.
“We estimated that number based on the total number of riders, and some days, there were more than that. They entertained having a fee to ride, but it was cost prohibited,” Mlynek-Janschutz said. “We had two buses at 4:45pm and 5:45pm. Geographically, we had to provide two buses to cover the land.”
Although there is an argument of the few riders not being able to accommodate for the price of the buses, there are students who were depending on that bus for a ride home. Even though there are not a lot of students using this to their advantage, there are some who made good use of it. If given the opportunity, students would more likely take the bus when necessary.
Whether it is sports related, academic related, or even a detention, many students are often at school past 3:11pm. One of these students is Maddie Roach, a freshman cheerleader who does not have her license.
“I stay after school every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday,” Roach said. “There are so many students in this high school that can drive, that the school just assumes everyone should be able to get a ride home, even though many students have both parents working and don’t have their license or a car available.”
Some students have no way of getting home, even when at driving age. Some families cannot afford to purchase a car for their children, nor to buy a parking spot. Even when students are not at driving age, some students have two working parents who cannot pick them up at all, forcing them to take the bus right after school. A late bus could solve many of these problems for parents, students, and the school.
The main concern that everybody should have is the safety of the students. Without a late bus, students sometimes resolve to walking home, decreasing their safety as speeding cars zoom past them.
There are no sidewalks on Church Street, forcing kids to walk on the very edge of the road. Also, by the time students would get out of sports or tutoring, it is already dark out, especially during the winter, when it starts getting dark out around 4:30pm. Adding these situations together creates a huge and dangerous problem for students. By having a late bus, students have a safer and easier way home.
“Most teenagers do not have a lot of patience, so they will not wait until their parents can get there,” Roach said. “They have no other way to get home, and walking is their only option.”
It is proven that high school students have become so lazy that when they do not have a ride home, they refuse to stay after school because they do not feel like finding a ride or walking home, according to an article on Slate’s website.
Keep in mind that students bring many materials to and from school, making it harder for them to run, ultimately affecting their ability to run across streets when necessary. By offering a late bus, students are always able to have a ride home with all their school supplies and sports equipment.
A late bus could open up many athletic sports opportunities to students, benefitting the athletic program and health in our school. With a late bus, students feel more open to doing after school activities, giving the coaching program a better selection of athletes to choose a team from. As more students do sports, more students have more of a daily workout than just P.E.
“The athletic program can be much bigger and include more people if there were a late bus,” Roach said. “Having more students to choose from helps because it gives more options of kids for the team to be the best it can be.”
When kids stay after school, students are also able to do P.E. makeups if necessary, raising their grade and are becoming healthier and more fit.
Besides the athletic side of staying after school, students like to stay after school to talk with a teacher about homework or to get extra help, but instead, they are not able to because they would not have a ride home afterward.
“If the students aren’t able to stay after school, they won’t be able to get the extra help that they may need,” Roach said. “The school always says they want to help us get the best education, but not having late buses available causes students to go home instead of staying after to get help. If more students can stay after to get help, then their grades will go up, increasing the students’ average GPA, helping the school have a higher intelligence.”
Although the school is trying to save money for useful additions to the school, adding a late bus should be the top of the list.