‘If You Miss the Bus, You’re Walking Four Hours’: Challenges of Rural Absenteeism
April 7, 2019
By: Sarah D. Sparks
Source: Education Week
What happens if a 9th grader misses the bus? If she’s waiting at the stop near the 4505 mile marker along California Highway 154, she’s got a more than 12-mile walk to Santa Ynez Valley Union High School.
That’s the kind of situation that led University of California Santa Barbara researchers to explore district transportation policies to find out they can affect chronic absenteeism among rural students.
“It you live in this rural area, you are really dependent on that bus. If miss the bus, you’re walking four hours and 19 minutes to get to school.”