At the beginning of the 2023-2024 fall semester, two additional a.m. bus routes, two more p.m. bus routes, and one extra bus stop were introduced. This is a result of the new radius around LACES that now allows students to take the bus to school if they live more than three miles away, rather than five.
“The superintendent decided to decrease the radius from five miles to three miles and that happened about the week before school started,” said Magnet Coordinator Ms. Nikki Derdzinske. “At that time, however, they didn’t add any new bus routes.”
The LAUSD Transportation Services Division is its own office which decides the location of the new bus stops and routes under the new range they set.
“We don’t make the routes, but we can advocate for routes or bus stops,” said Assistant Principal Mr. Rustum Jacob.
The difficulty with changing or adding bus stops and making new routes in the middle of the school year is that students have routines.
“Changing a bus route for one family may be great,” said Middle School College Counselor and Magnet Coordinator Jennipher Lewis. “But for three other families, it might [be a] burden.”
LACES’ plan for addressing the bussing issue is by advocating for new bus stops and routes during the summer break from school. This strategy allows the Transportation Services Division to make improvements without disrupting the routines and schedules of bus riders during the school year.
“We’ll see next year if there’s a big change because by then they can redo things during the summer when students aren’t taking the bus,” said Lewis.
One potential challenge to implementing this plan is the need for the district’s approval before initiating any actions by LACES. If LACES has a solution, the solution’s implementation relies on the district’s approval.
“So everything has to be approved by the district and it takes a lot of time,” said Lewis.
After the pandemic, some parents personally drove their children to school to minimize their risk of getting sick while on the school bus.
“After the pandemic parents got used to bringing their kids [to school] even when LAUSD puts signs and banners [advertising for returning to the school buses],” said LAUSD bus driver of 18 years, Rodolfo Castillo.
Even with the new change in the radius, students are still not riding the bus.
“They’re used to riding with their parents and not riding the bus, they don’t have to wake up earlier,” said Castillo.
[EDITOR’S NOTE]: The Transportation Services Division of LAUSD added a 3-mile radius as a minimum requirement to ride the bus. To fix the lack of new bus stops, LACES plans to advocate for more bus stops in the summer of 2024.