This academic year, the transportation department introduced a new initiative to support students: evening buses aimed at encouraging students to participate in more extracurriculars. Starting Nov. 1, the CHCCS district ran evening buses from every middle and high school.
“It’s truly an attempt to be more equitable for students who want to participate in extracurricular activities that might not be able to in the absence of that transportation,” said assistant principal Brandon Patterson, who is in charge of transportation. “We’re hoping that will increase the convenience for families and students so they can be more active in our school community”.
The evening buses operate Monday through Thursday, departing at 6:35 p.m. with four stops.
“The four stops were specifically chosen for the demographics of those communities,” Patterson said. “We wish there were more stops. But we also know that it involves more resources and more time.”
However, the introduction of extra bus routes necessitates additional financial resources and drivers from the school district. According to UNC Charlotte, the state only covers two bus trips: the one to school in the morning and the one home in the afternoon. Additional bus usage requires the district to submit grants for reimbursement, which are not always paid in full. This prompts the question: All things considered, is investing in the new evening buses actually worth it?
There is also uncertainty about the extent to which students are utilizing the evening buses. An initial observation by members of the ECHO indicated that only one student was using the evening bus on Nov. 28, and on Dec. 4 there were two riders. In the November student survey, only 11 out of 227 students reported having taken the evening bus at least once during the fall and winter seasons.
Possible reasons for low utilization include bus departure times not aligning well with certain sports practices. For instance, indoor track practice concludes before 6:00 p.m., requiring students to wait for at least 30 minutes before catching the bus. Varsity basketball practices extend until 8:00 p.m., long after the evening bus schedule.
