My morning is almost typical. I wake up and get ready like always, dragging my feet down the hall. But this time, the bus isn’t coming. I dread waking up my parents to bring me to school, but I don’t have a choice. Then I’m in the car and hearing their complaints. Like, I made the bus not come? It wasn’t my choice. And I’ll have to hear it for the rest of the year. 

A school year has passed since bussing was cut back, and like every other school facing financial shortfalls, Strongsville has had to make some hard decisions, like transportation cuts. Staff, students, and parents are facing the hardships of decreased financial support at this very moment and they will have to keep facing it if things don’t change for the better for years to come.

So why are we having this problem now after having normal transportation over the years? Well, our school district is going through an acute bus shortage. Burnouts in education and driving are occurring, levies aren’t passing for funding, and irregular hours for bus drivers make it hard for drivers to accumulate other income to sustain a livable lifestyle. 

the age of bus drivers is trending up, with many tending to be as old as 50 or higher. Retirement rates are higher for Strongsville this year especially. The district began the year with 47 bus drivers, but with four drivers retiring, that number will be at 43. 

Since the transportation cut, the district has employed different rules. Originally, bussing was provided if housing was a mile from school, but that lengthened to one and a quarter miles or more. A drastic cut was made to transportation for eleventh and twelfth graders, leaving them to solve their own problems of transportation for the last couple years of school. Students ask people for rides, pay people for rides, carpool, or have their parents drive them.

The transportation didn’t only affect the high school. It also affected the middle school and elementary schools. Since these schools are all in different locations, some children in households of different grades may have transportation or may not, making it difficult for parents who have to work to figure out a way for their kid to get to and from school. 

Difficulty with transportation can impact the district’s attendance rates and by reduced attendance, achievement.

The best solution to these problems is to try harder and get the community together to pass levies. Because the levy of 4.9 million  didn’t go through, the school might be forced to do more than cut transportation, like raising fees, reducing extracurricular activities, and cutting staff.

So on top transportation issues, other things in the school will start spiraling. 

If things continue, the problem with transportation will not be the only problem the students and their families face.

It’s time to think about the future of the district and what we want our community to be because right now, we aren’t going anywhere good.