With No Bus Service, Families Carpool to San Jacinto Schools (CA)
September 17, 2010
The clock is ticking and Yazmin Villalobos is watching for her daughter and two neighbor girls to come out the gate at Park Hill Elementary at 3:15 p.m. in San Jacinto.
They know to hustle out to the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
"When I get home, my husband leaves for work," in the car at 3:30 p.m., she said. She’s already been to school once to pick up her 5-year-old son.
Villalobos and her neighbors at Desert Palms Mobile Home Park in Hemet are new carpoolers. In their park, it takes a village to get the children to school, pitching in with gas money (some pay $15 a week) and, for one mom, a battery jumpstart every day.
Although they live in Hemet, their park is in San Jacinto Unified School District. Their children used to ride the school bus, but in February the board voted to cut costs by increasing the walking distance before children qualify for a bus ride.
Parents say the district has told them the park is 2.43 miles from Park Hill and elementary children must live more than 2.5 miles to qualify, instead of only a mile away. The distance is measured from the front curb on State Street. Jayne Christakos, assistant superintendent for business services, wrote in an e-mail that distances to individual units are not measured.
"My daughter didn’t miss a day last year," said Villalobos, and she’ll do what she can to repeat that.
Desert Palms resident Angelina Ballard and her sister-in-law split the trips. One afternoon, Angelina has her four kids and her nephew. Money is tight and she said, "Next week I don’t know what I ‘m going to do about gas."
Son Simon Ballard said, "I like the bus better, because it’s too hot in the car and there’s no space" in the van.
So far, Park Hill has the highest month attendance of district elementaries at 96.49 percent.
"I find this to be an amazing accomplishment. We have seen our parents rise to the challenge and work together with us in getting their children to school," Principal Matt Hixson wrote in an e-mail.
Districtwide, last year 1,139 elementary students were eligible for rides and only 84 were expected to qualify this year. The walk distances for grades 6-12 increased from 3 miles to 5 miles.
Desert Palms manager Emilio Rincon has called meetings in what he calls his "little town," trying to match up kids with rides.
Rincon translates for Jesus Tapia who says of carpooling, "It’s hard because people don’t have money to help with gas,"
Parent Melissa Mattis, who shares driving with a girlfriend, said, "It’s not fair kids have to walk, they’re young." Vacant lots and an industrial area are along the way before children would reach a sidewalk. "People go 45 mph with no sidewalks. I don’t feel it’s safe especially for the elementary," she said.