I am a senior at Alexandria City High School who takes buses between campuses every day. I recently read an article published in Theogony titled, “Transportation Issues Plague School Year” by Julia Gwin. I agree with Ms. Gwin’s points, and I would like to add some of my own points as well.
Although some people believe that the new bus transportation system in between class periods is efficient, I believe that it is chaotic and poorly thought out due to the fact that it is incredibly time-consuming and uncoordinated among staff. I believe it must be changed.
Despite the fact that there are thirteen minutes between classes, it is my experience that most, if not all, students who must transition between campuses are still late to class. I think that this is caused by many factors, one of which is attempting to board a bus along with hundreds of other students simultaneously.
Once students have fought their way onto a crowded bus, they are at the mercy of the traffic lights on Braddock Rd. and King St. If by some miracle their bus makes it through all of the lights without stopping, they then must wait in a “line” — I use this term loosely because the line to get inside each campus is more akin to a mob — outside of the building before being let in through one door to go through security. If they then somehow make it through the weapons abatement system without hearing the dreaded, “Secondary,” which indicates they must pass through the scanners again, they will have to book it in order to arrive at class. At this point, the student is most definitely late, and that’s even after they were released three minutes early by their previous teacher. But some teachers don’t release their students early, which brings me to my next point.
If you ask ACHS teachers what time they’re supposed to release their students to transition, you will get wildly different answers. Some teachers allow transitioning students to leave class three minutes early, only for students at Minnie Howard to be prevented from getting on a bus until the bell, which completely defeats the purpose of allowing transitioning students to leave early and makes them even later. Some teachers will not dismiss any of their students until the bell rings, often causing them to be on the last buses or even to miss the buses altogether. In addition, there is inconsistency among security and administrative staff as to how students walking between campuses are dealt with, which doors students may enter or exit from, how many metal detectors at King Street are available, and whether students must sign in with their Minga ID’s. All of these variables may change on a daily basis, causing frustration and confusion among students and teachers who must wait for them.
It is for these reasons and experiences, many of which I have experienced myself, that I believe ACHS’s transition system needs reform. I don’t think the system that is currently being used is sustainable in the long term, as it is exhausting for many students to be late and stressed every single day. I hope Theogony continues to share stories about the difficulties students and teachers are facing daily, and that it may bring about some positive change.
-Haley Blickhahn, 12th grade
Read a letter to the editor from an alternate viewpoint here. Read Theogony’s latest coverage of intercampus transportation here.
