Bus transportation. It’s a necessary part of going to school for many students, but it can pose challenges. It’s mid – October and on some days, the buses are still arriving late to Dobie Jr. High. 

Late bus arrivals in the morning and in the afternoon for dismissal are nothing new, especially in the beginning of the year. But over time, this improves a bit. Still, some students still struggle.

Each afternoon at dismissal at 3:18 p.m., a staff member announces that car riders and walkers can leave. That’s followed by calling out each bus as they arrive. Students are supposed to stay in their classrooms until their bus is called, then go to quickly retrieve their things before  rushing to catch the bus.  

Brayden Riddle, a 7th grader, said, said he is a bus rider who struggles with the whole process of waiting for his bus to be called in the afternoons.  “It’s ok, but it’s hard to focus sometimes. It’s harder for some people here, and we need people to help them out like, get their bus correct,” said Riddle. “I have high anxiety that comes on when I’m waiting for the buses. I would have a bigger location where people can see people that are on our bus and we can see the buses coming and leaving.” 

Teachers and staff have to make sure the kids stay in the classroom in the afternoon. “I do not think it’s a good setup for the afternoon because I think the kids have been here long enough, and then you have others being held 25, maybe 30 minutes later sometimes,” said Mrs.Mansfield, a 7th grade English teacher. “It’s very difficult for some, and that’s where you have behavioral issues. We can change that by  possibly coming up with a large

enough location for students to hang out and socialize while still being monitored. Just sitting in a classroom is very difficult for students.”

The buses are late in the morning as well, so how is that different? “It sucks when you need to be at school early to do things, but that’s just too bad because there’s nothing you can do.” said Damian Midkiff, an 8th grade student. “Like, I know the thespian society has meetings before school, and a lot of people end up being late to those meetings because of their bus.” 

Mrs. Rodriguez, a 7th grade teacher, had this to say. “I don’t think it’s on purpose, there is something obviously wrong that would cause a bus to be late. It honestly doesn’t affect me.  I feel bad for the student, if they have to come in late and we have already started on something and they have to go, and try to catch up. They are really just doing the best they can.”

Parents have been wondering about the late buses. “Rarely is a delay caused by a bus issue.  We have spare buses ready to roll and if the primary bus is having problems–we can have the spare bus on the road in minutes.” said the SCUC transportation department. “Buses running late can be caused by a combination of things—all of them innocent.  For example— traffic is bad, there is an accident, trains (or the stop arm is down for no reason), construction zones—all situations that can happen even when you drive your own car.”

This obviously isn’t the only school dealing with this, and it’s not a new topic; the same problem was happening in Memphis, Tennessee last year. The parents and students had to wait for the buses until 10:30 in the morning and wait 5:30 in the afternoon for their buses. So while Dobie may not have it as bad as other schools  we could definitely do more to keep the buses coming on time.   

Resources:

 https://wreg.com/2018/09/27/parents-fed-up-with-late-buses/

 https://www.scuc.txed.net/Page