STUDENT’S BUSES SECURED ONLY FOR REST OF SEMESTER

By Tim Smirnov and Rosie Somoundjian, The Pearl Post / Daniel Pearl Magnet High School Van Nuys,  from my hsj.org | http://bit.ly/x5FJpN

Juan Guzman: Many students who attend Daniel Pearl Magnet High School rely on the district-funded school buses to transport them daily from their homes to school.

2/14/2012 9:43:41 PM  ::  Freshman Destiny Naulls, who lives in Gardena would have no way to get to and from school, a distance that is about 28 miles, if school transportation was cut.

Many kids take the school bus because they have no other alternative for getting to and from school if school buses were to be cut.

“I would probably have to switch schools because I would have no other way to get to school,” Naulls said.

In December, when Governor Jerry Brown announced that $328 million would be cut from K-12 funding, much of the cuts were to come from transportation. The cuts threatened to sever half of the school bus funding.

To stop the cuts Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) went to court on Dec. 13 to get a temporary restraining order on the budget cuts, but they were not successful.

Aside from the temporary restraining order, LAUSD filed for an injunction, which would stop the action from taking place at all. The passage of the SB-81 law makes the injunction unnecessary.

Although the bill was turned to law on Friday Feb. 10, this does not mean that schools are out of the woods.

“Next year we will be faced with this problem again,” said Donald Wilkes, Deputy Director of Transportation. “It is really important for people who value free school bus transportation to let their legislatures know that they care.”

If this bill did not pass and funding for buses was to be cut, it would affect many of the kids who take the school bus at DPMHS.

“Approximately two-thirds of DPMHS students qualify to take the school bus,” said Laverne Potter, magnet coordinator. “The district thinks that students can find their way to school with public transportation, but most stops are too far away from students’ homes.”

Students concerned about budget cuts, are urged to write or call their legislators and tell them their concerns about the cuts to education. “Write to your elected officials and say that there should be no more cuts to the education system,” Wilkes said. “With all these budget cuts it is getting more and more difficult for children to get a good education.”