CPS parents, Chicago alders push to restore school buses for general education students
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Kids waking up at 5:30 a.m. just to get on a school bus; Chicago leaders and parents say that's the reality for some magnet and selective enrollment students.
Others don't even have the option to ride the bus.
Before the 2023-24 school year, amid a school bus driver shortage that has lingered since the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago Public Schools eliminated guaranteed busing for general education students, providing school buses only for students with disabilities and students experiencing homelessness.
Parent activists and several Chicago alderpersons are demanding bus service be restored for magnet and selective enrollment students who attend schools outside their home neighborhood. They spoke out on Tuesday before a private meeting with some members of the Chicago Board of Education.
"We formed last year, right after CPS cut busing for students just three weeks before the start of school, leaving families stranded," said Erin Schubert, with CPS Parents for Buses.
"Our children need to get to our public schools, and in order for our magnet students to do that, they need access to busing and they need it now," Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) said.
Chicago Public Schools officials responded saying they now have the highest number of drivers since the start of the pandemic.
The district said it also will launch a "Hub Stop Pilot Program" on Monday, which will provide school bus rides for some general education students who attend magnet or selective enrollment elementary schools and who are eligible for school buses. CPS plans to add additional pick-up and drop-off locations and students throughout the year as capacity allows.
"District leaders empathize and are acutely aware of the logistical challenges, from long commute times to upended family and work schedules, for the families of those students who have been without yellow school bus transportation from the District for the past couple of years and that is why our leaders have never stopped exploring all possible solutions," a CPS spokesperson said in an email
