After originally saying it didn’t have enough bus seats for every student who needed a ride to and from Mesa Middle School, the Lucia Mar Unified School District fixed the issue before school started.
Dozens of parents received word that their students didn’t get bus pass applications approved, but Lucia Mar Marketing and Communications Director Amy Jacobs told the Sun that all Mesa Middle School students who applied by the deadline received seats.
“We have less than 30 secondary students on the waitlist at this time,” she said in mid-August of buses heading to other schools in the district.
Similar to school districts across the rest of the state, Jacobs said, Lucia Mar is experiencing a driver shortage. To help entice potential new drivers, the district’s offering a hiring bonus and a free training period.
“We need to add additional drivers to be able to transport all the students who would like busing,” she said. “We are seeing school districts across the state canceling their busing altogether, and we have worked hard to keep it because we know how important it is to our families.”
To help ensure its bus system keeps moving forward, Jacobs said the district is partnering with its before- and after-school programs so students can arrive to campus earlier and stay on campus later. That way, drivers can make a second round of pickups.
Parent Desirae Felix said she understands the issues the school district is facing but doesn’t think busing students to school earlier or having some stay later is the best option.
“My daughter last year would be on campus for a good 35 minutes before school even started, just waiting around because that was the only bus,” she said. “I finally pulled her from the bus, and we made a carpool system in the morning, but she still had an afternoon pass for after school because it’s a good 17-minute drive from my house.”
Felix said a good way to help eliminate some of these issues is if the school district was more proactive about bus pass applications earlier in the summer, rather than waiting until the month school starts.
“At the end of the school year, they at least need to start with a survey, and based on those survey results begin letting parents know where they stand,” she said. “They should have some data that could guide their decision-making and at least make parents aware a few months ahead, not the week before.”
