School Bus Breakdown
As bus service declines, more students will be home-schooled, will transfer to other districts, or will simply miss school more often. Then average daily attendance (ADA) will decline and with it the lion’s share of a district’s funding; and, ultimately, like a fractured hillside subjected to a succession of storms, education will erode further.
In the drivers’ lounge of Southern Humboldt’s transportation yard, a couple of seasoned drivers in between runs take refuge from the roads and the rain. They talk of premature retirement, finding other jobs, a recent back-of-the-bus bullying incident, and how there used to be twice as many drivers and mechanics a generation ago. But mostly they wonder aloud about how families on the geographic and economic fringes are going to make it.
Mary Hays, a Southern Humboldt bus driver for four years, says, “One mom told me, ‘I’m not smart enough to home-school.’ But I’m most concerned about those families with no car, no money to ride the bus, no money to move, and no money to home-school.”
Bobby Lahr has been driving the district’s buses since 1989. Before that, in the 1970s, he rode them to junior high and high school. He and his wife have no children of their own; but he’s come to know hundreds whom he’s watched over as they’ve grown up along his routes.
“Somewhere along the line,” he says, “people have forgotten what this is all about. It’s about the kids. It’s about our future. They have a right to have at least as good an education as we had.”
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on the cover
Railroad!
Proposed lines ‘set rich blood a-tingling’ in early 1900s
Some Other Proposed North Coast Railroads
Choo-choo Fantasies
Exposing this east-west rail nonsense
seven-o-heaven
Undeterred Will
Will chides Andrew for lack of attention to detail and makes plans for his inevitable victory.
Recent on the cover
May 17
Ring of Fire
Sun and moon will perform a rare pas de deux in Humboldt skies on Sunday
May 10
District Soup
Racing for the top county seat in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts
May 3
A Place in the Woods
As park closure deadline nears, a scramble to save what we can
Today
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Flow 2012 Fashion Show
STAFF PICK / events / 8 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Student designed and produced clothing. Fundraiser for Arcata Arts Institute. $35/$25 students. artsinstitute.net. 822-1220.
Woodside Preschool's Rummage/Bake Sale
events / 8 a.m.-noon. Woodside Preschool, 900 Hodgson St, Eureka. www.woodsidepreschool.com. 445-9132.
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
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FOUR Comments
Comment / By General Fadi Basem / Feb. 9, 12:52 p.m.
Ten page reloads for one article? Get a “one page” button.
Comment / By Kym Kemp / Feb. 10, 5:19 p.m.
Thank you for this well-written piece—the condensation on the windows and the problems facing rural kids came into focus. Well done.
Comment / By Diamond / Yesterday, 1:57 a.m.
Damnit, I don’t care if it was used in Super Troopers or not. That quote is from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Comment / By local dude / Today, 4:31 p.m.
I was left wondering if all the non taxed income in So Hum contributes to the state of their schools. The article mentioned things like people paying for their kids to ride the bus unless they qualify for free service because of a lack of income. Once again, with a high (no pun intended) percentage of growers in So Hum, their will be many people who qualify as people living in poverty. I just was curious if the lack income tax base adversely affects what the schools receive from the local tax base.