Late buses have been a common issue for students. Although late bus announcements normalize the pattern, there are deeper problems that students face when their buses arrive late.

Senior Isabella Gandolph described the personal challenges of constantly arriving late. Her morning bus does not typically arrive to school until 8:55 AM. Her morning bus driver has to make an additional route for an elementary school before her route, which causes Gandolph to arrive late to her first period precalculus class everyday.

“I’m missing homework checks, warm ups, and any homework review” Gandolph says. Gandolph also stated that her bus caused her to be late to a quiz on Wednesday morning. Missing class material and assignments can easily take a toll on a student’s understanding of a subject.

Another senior, Mathew Wilson, was asked about how the busing situation has impacted him. His bus is often late to school in the morning as well. Wilson said that he’s been behind in class with less time to complete his assignments.

“We have an essay first period and it’s only supposed to be done in class for forty-five minutes and I only get thirty to thirty-five minutes of that time,” stated Wilson. This remains problematic for several other students at ERHS, especially those who rely on late buses as their main source of transportation.

At the end of every school day, late buses have required many students to wait outside for up to an hour anticipating its arrival. Sophomore Jeremy Thomas usually does not arrive home until 4:40 PM due to his late afternoon bus picking him up around 4 PM. According to Thomas, this severely cuts into his homework and studying time. “I don’t do homework when I get home because I usually have to leave within 10 minutes to go to soccer practice,” states Thomas. Most students have other priorities and activities that are heavily impacted when they arrive home late, and lose crucial time to do their homework.

Late buses at ERHS continue to impact both the academic lives of students, with potential solutions yet to be offered. As the year progresses, students are left hoping that these conditions will improve.