Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/58727
a school bus driver. I consider myself a counselor, a second mother and a friend who takes them to and from school." Johnson, a bus driver for Redlands Unified School Dis- trict for eight years, fears that children will be put at risk without buses and caring drivers to ensure their safe passage. "Sometimes when we pick them up it is still dark out in the morning," explains Johnson, a member of the Redlands Education Support Professionals Association (RESPA). "I'm defi- nitely worried about their safety." Two years ago, the district eliminated all high school busing and extended the bus boundaries for middle school and elementary schools, says Jolene Tripp, RESPA president and a bus driver for 10 years. With fewer routes, drivers lost jobs and students had increased dif- ficulties getting to school. "We just keep on making cuts and putting everything on the chopping block until there is nothing leſt to chop," says Tripp. "I worry that without busing, more students will drop out. It's hard enough to keep students in school. Why put one more barrier in their way?" Urban areas need buses, too More than half of the nearly 800 students attending 186th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles rely on school buses to transport them through a dangerous urban area. Preschoolers board Lorrie Hurn's bus in Potter Valley. "Without buses, our students would have to walk down a very busy street and cross a freeway onramp," says Rebecca Johnson, a pre-kindergarten teacher and United Teachers Los Angeles member. "Our school is located in an industrial area that is heavily traveled by trucks. There is also a lot of gang activity. A few years ago, a young girl was shot to death by gang members. Understandably, parents are very nervous, because they rely on the school bus to get their kids to and from school safely." 186th Street Elementary School has a "late Rebecca Johnson bus" so students can participate in after-school programs such as tutoring and classes in art, music and dance, which help close the achieve- ment gap. Last year, funding for the late bus was cut, but it was restored after parents signed petitions and sought private donations to help cover costs. The school is one of seven in the district that provide trans- portation for students; LAUSD officials had planned to sue the state to halt the school bus cuts. "Most of our parents are low-income, and many of them don't drive," says Johnson. "If we eliminate buses, we're just taking one more thing away from the neediest population." March 2012 / www.cta.org 25