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by Diego Sandoval
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in We’Ced Youth Magazine Issue #2
March 14th, 2012, the Merced Union High School District board members voted to cut school transportation for high school students that lived within five miles of their school.
The school buses were the main avenue for a large number of students, estimated by the Merced Union High School District to be around 1,500, to get to school and access public education. This decision was said to have been made due to budget cuts that are affecting districts throughout California.
[pullquote_left]According to our local ABC News, school board members argued that the cuts had to be made and routes had to be eliminated. They said that students would either have to walk or take the city bus although at the same time the city bus was also reducing their amount of routes and frequency.[/pullquote_left]
According to our local ABC News, school board members argued that the cuts had to be made and routes had to be eliminated. They said that students would either have to walk or take the city bus although at the same time the city bus was also reducing their amount of routes and frequency.
A rumor went around that there would be free bus passes for high school students that needed to take the public bus to school. I found out that this was true through a provision of the McKinney- Vento Homeless Act. Only certain students can qualify for this assistance. It is strictly for students that fall into the McKinney-Vento Act’s definition of “homeless.” According to this act, a student is considered homeless if they do not have a permanent address or are doubling with one or more families in one house.
I remember being informed about the buses being cut by my bus driver. As I talked to other students and parents involved in this issue, some report not knowing about the change until roundup right before school starts and some say they knew nothing until the bus didn’t show up on the first day of school. “We were not informed until my niece started school, that’s when we had to figure out a way to get her to and from school,” said Elyse Gittens, aunt of Delvina Johnson and member of the Walk Your Talk group. “The school board knew that what was traditionally being given to students was going to be taken away and parents should have been informed. We are only making it difficult for students and if one student fails, that’s one too many.”
[pullquote_right]A rumor went around that there would be free bus passes for high school students that needed to take the public bus to school. I found out that this was true through a provision of the McKinney- Vento Homeless Act.[/pullquote_right]
The Walk Your Talk group is composed of concerned community parents, students and residents working alongside local agencies and community groups such as The Beachwood Franklin Commitee for Improvement (BFCI), Building Healthy Communities Initiative, California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) and the Merced Organizing Project (MOP). Coordinated in part by Enid Picart from CRLA, the group currently meets every Tuesday at United Way, which is located at 658 W. Main Street here in Merced.
