Students are getting home later because of the new bus procedures since students do not make a bus change at the central location anymore.
Transportation Supervisor Randi Bullard changed all of the bus procedures last year during the spring semester from buses meeting at elementary/primary to each bus picking up its students from each campus.
Freshman Ava Booth said she lives in town, but the bus takes 30 more minutes to drop her and her siblings off.
“I don’t like it,” Booth said. “The buses take so long to get to the school. I used to get home at 4:30 p.m., but now I get home at 5 p.m.”
Bullard said the change was due to the safety of students.
“Different buses were going to different campuses and all meeting at elementary/primary, and then moving students to their perspective buses,” Bullard said. “Now each bus goes to each campus and picks up their own students, so we don’t have so many students around at one time.”
Junior Lainey Wallis said she liked the new system.
“I like the change,” Wallis said. “The drop offs and pick ups are much more organized than last year.”
Sophomore Aylin Robles Marquez said she liked the new route because she doesn’t spend as much time on the bus.
“It’s better now,” Robles Marquez said. “We get to stay in school instead of riding the bus to the primary.”
The buses take about five to 30 minutes to pick up students from the high school.
“My bus picks me up around 4:35 p.m.,” sophomore Randi Holms said. “I arrive at my house at 5:15 p.m. since I live out of town, so I sometimes sleep, eat snacks or talk with my friends (while riding).”
Sophomore Kayla Lopez Mendoza said her bus is one of the first buses to arrive for pick up, but she still gets home at 6 p.m.
“My bus driver drops people off first from the outskirts of town, then kids in town, then outskirts again, then goes to Paynes Corner,” Lopez Mendoza said. “Sometimes my bus comes too early in the afternoon, and I miss it because my teachers keep me in three to six minutes after school.”
Bullard said their routes change and evolve around the students they transport.
“Some of the drop off points would change due to centralizing the bus stops,” Bullard said. “These changes are made according to the number of students at each location.”
While she enjoyed the organized route, Wallis said she disliked the unorganized bus seating.
“I like how high school gets picked up first after elementary, then we go to junior high, then we go home,” Wallis said, “but when it’s our turn to get on, we have to find spots to sit because all the little kids are scattered around filling up all of the seats.”
Sophomore Hadassah Wiebe said she doesn’t use the bus because of how late it runs.
“I would get home around 5 p.m,” Wiebe said. “The bus was packed because of all the little kids.”
Bullard said the transportation department worked hard to ensure the buses are in good condition for the students. Students who rode in-town routes had voiced complaints about a lack of air conditioning on buses in August.
“If something goes out (stops working)on a bus, we use sub buses and get the bus fixed,” Bullard said. “We have numerous stops and starts, which in turn can cause loss of air and effectiveness of the air conditioning to work properly.’’
