by Tala Kamil | staff writer
Students are dealing with late buses and longer bus routes as the area surrounding the campus grows and battles construction and congestion.
“Usually at the start of a new school year, the bus drivers are getting sent to a new route so they have to figure out the way. Our buses go to elementary school, pick them up drop them off-and the same goes to middle school – then they come to us. So, if their middle school is running a little bit behind, then they’re late for us. And if the elementary school is behind, then that makes buses late for both of us,” assistant principal Felecia Joiner said. “We have new bus drivers who don’t know the route, so they have to figure that out. And, sometimes we get sub bus drivers, so they have a different route every day. Different things make buses late.”
Like buses in most San Antonio school districts, the distances of the routes can be long and, just like everyone else, the buses often get caught in morning and afternoon traffic.
“They have a certain route as far as the neighborhood route and they extend all the way out on one side of Evans road past and we go as far as 1604 and as far back as past Marshal Road. And personally for me in a vehicle, I say morning traffic starts around 7:20 a.m. and in the afternoon, traffic starts at around 3:30 p.m.,” Joiner said.
When it comes to driving a school bus, communication is the key point.
“The bus drivers have radios on their buses which connects to their dispatcher that’s at a central location, so the dispatcher is the one who gives all the bus driver’s information about the roads and etc.,” Joiner said.
The campus staff is aware of the late buses, and are working towards improving the issue.
“The school is working with the dispatcher and we let them know what time the bus gets here and they look at what bus route this bus is taking, so they could maybe change it,” Joiner said.
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