New year, new start time, same bus issues

New+year%2C+new+start+time%2C+same+bus+issues

Michelle Morgan, Staff Writer

   A typical school bus is fit to hold 45-50 students, not over 70. Over the past few years, there has been a large transportation
issue.
   Many buses in Hillsborough County are overcrowded and even arrive late to school as well as in the afternoon.
   When buses are late to school in the morning it can impact a student’s education and can cause distractions when they walk
into the room after class has started. Ms. Holly, who teaches math, said, “The first few weeks of school, there were
4 to 5 kids late, and it’s so distracting.”
   However, she does believe that the issue is, “much better than last year.”
   These buses are not only late, but heavily crowded. Lily Scalabrin, 9, said, “There’s often three people to a seat.”
   Buses that have a large number of kids on them take a longer time to get the students home, decreasing their amount of
time for studying and extracurricular activities in the afternoon.
   “It’s an hour and a half bus ride home for me,” Shea Noll, 10, said.
   Some of these buses are not in the best physical condition either, which makes the long bus rides home seem much longer than they already are. “There’s bad air conditioning, and the
seats are ripping,” Annabelle Dammer, 10, said.
   This being said, not all students have issues with the transportation provided by the school district.
   “The bus was a little late in the mornings,” Kerry Wise, 10, said, “but it has been on time the past couple days.”