Administration creates changes to bus routes to fix overflow bus problem
Many of the school buses were overflowed due to the amount of students.
Confusion surfaced among Clark Magnet students last week when news came that there would be changes for students who take the bus. After nearly two months of the routine “the-overflow-bus-has-just-arrived” announcement at an unusually late time each day, the problem is finally being cleared up now that Clark administration has created new bus routes.
Clark Magnet High School’s bus system consists of 20 different bus stop locations throughout Glendale, according to the school’s website. While some students use other forms of transportation — driving themselves to school, having a parent bring them, walking, or riding a bike — the majority of Clark Magnet pupils ride the school bus.
Principal Lena Kortoshian and Assistant Principal Brian Landisi began making changes to the overflow-bus problem by sorting out all bus stops geographically, and reassigning the buses that went to those stops. So, from now on, instead of having one bus travel to five different stops, each bus will only make one or two stops.
Another bus-related issue that needed to be fixed was the pick-up and drop-off times. One bus would pick up students as early as 6:45 a.m. and drop them off at around 4:10 p.m. This was obviously inconvenient for most students. Now, with the change, the earliest pick-up is at 7:10 a.m. and the latest drop-off is at 3:40 p.m. “It’s more efficient for you guys so you get extra time to sleep, get homework done, that kind of stuff,” Landisi said.
The confusion among students sprang up when they received new bus number stickers on their ID cards last Wednesday. Students came to the realization that their bus number had changed and feared that their location must have also been switched. This worried many students, since some of them already walk to their homes after getting dropped off at their bus stops.
“When I noticed that my bus number was different, I got worried for a minute because I walk home and I wouldn’t want to walk a longer distance,” said junior Gor Mirzakhanyan. This did not turn out to be the case, however, since the only changes that will occur are the route numbers and drivers assigned to each bus.
The bus changes began Oct. 2.
