Since students have been back in school, there have been many complaints from students about the dismissal times. Although we do get out before some schools, the busses also have a certain time they have to leave. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t give kids a long enough time to make it to their busses, causing them to miss them. I have realized this problem, and we should do something about it. 

All students get out at 2:40, right? That gives students about 15 minutes to make it to their busses. Five of those minutes include walking back from their eighth period, and grabbing their items out of their lockers. Not to mention the fact that the new school is absolutely huge, so it takes forever to actually get out of the building, taking up another two or three minutes. A lot of students ride the Amtran busses which are parked at the back of the junior high. We come out of the B building, which means we have to wait for traffic before we cross a main road and walk all the way to the back corner of the junior high, right beside the student parking lot. Then, we have to walk past the funeral home and continue walking until we reach another intersection in which we have to wait for a crossing guard to tell us when it is safe to go. After crossing, we have to walk fast just to be able to make it to our bus before they pull out and leave at 2:53. The walking takes up about six to seven minutes, if I’m being generous. 

Now some people may ask, “Why not just have a parent take you?” A lot of parents work during school hours which means they are not always available to pick us up. Our only source of transportation home then would be a bus. Many students also have siblings who go to elementary schools too, so their parents have to go pick up their sibling first before they get them. A lot of schools offer after school hour programs to watch kids such as Lilypond, but the parents can’t always afford it due to many financial problems with COVID. 

Earlier dismissal for bus students would be a weight lifted off many students shoulders. Many times, after eighth period, we have to think about how we’re going to get out of class fast and push through all the big high school students in the crowded hallways. It’s not always easy, so sometimes we just have to hope for the best. I know that when I am super rushed I often leave many school materials in my locker such as textbooks and folders. This change would benefit many students, and help make sure that more kids make it home safely each day.