Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › News › Education

Randolph high school students may get a bus ride

Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 2, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

More Education

More stories »

Parents of high school students at Bruce Randolph School who want free transportation for their children partly got their wish during a community meeting Thursday night.

Since the beginning of the school year, some parents of Bruce Randolph students have been concerned about their children's safety while walking to school.

"Our children have to overcome a lot of obstacles walking to and from school," said Holly Hudson, 39, a parent. "There are no buses for high school students."

Hudson noted that many students who live in the Elyria, Swansea and Globeville neighborhoods have to cross railroad tracks, go under the underpass for Interstate 70, deal with truck traffic in industrial areas and cope with vehicles going on and off I-70. In many areas, students also have to go through gang territory.

Under district policy, students who live more than 3.5 miles from their high school are eligible to get passes to ride Regional Transportation District buses. But that service is not available to high school students at Bruce Randolph because it is a choice school.

Instead, parents are responsible for providing transportation, and in many cases, they can't. At the same time, parents said they noticed that the district provides school buses for middle-school students at Bruce Randolph.

"A number of buses are leaving there half empty," said Hudson. "The resources are not fully utilized."

According to Pauline Gervais, director of transportation for Denver Public Schools, about 10 school buses with a carrying capacity of 40 to 50 students each serve Bruce Randolph School every day. Another two buses are added Monday and Wednesday afternoons to pick up students involved in after-school activities.

Although 300 middle school students at Bruce Randolph are eligible to ride the yellow buses, many don't.

Thursday, Gervais unveiled a plan in which eligible high school students at Bruce Randolph can apply for an exception to district policy, which would allow them to ride the school buses that serve middle school students.

She noted that the high school students can ride the bus only if space is available.