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     As a young parent years ago, I likely wouldn't have prioritized busing in education. But when Menifee abruptly cut busing in 2017, I started to investigate the situation further. What I found has made me an advocate of the return of busing in the district. There were three things that have formed my current opinion that busing is needed in Menifee.

     The overwhelming support of parents in favor of busing in Menifee was evident during this time period. There were hundreds of protestors and thousands of signatures on petitions to reinstate busing. It was all over social media. People were protesting in front of schools. Several news sources ran articles about the situation. For some of these families, busing was an added convenience so that they didn't have to make major life adjustments to get their children to school. For some families, busing was a necessity or their children absolutely couldn't make it to school. 

     Even though busing costs money, more students actually left the district over the issue, causing a financial loss to the district. In talking with a school board member in August of 2018, I was told that the district actually lost money on the cutting of busing. If this is the case, then bringing busing back may result in an increase of school funds for the general population. I was also told that there were also several options on the table to lower the costs of busing, but these ideas were ultimately dismissed. These ideas included having Hemet run a few of the routes that are "free" to Menifee (working from grant money), and having students partially pay for busing. It seems that more work can be done here to come up with a compromise that is good for families and for the district.

      Another concern is that the lack of busing presents a safety issue. Some students in areas have to walk more than a mile to school and sometimes on unpaved roads. Additionally, many parents are dropping their children off at schools long before the instructional day begins. Some of these students are not picked up for hours after the day is over. If you have a chance, drive around our middle schools around 7:30 am (over an hour before school), and see how many kids you can count that have no place to go.  This safety concern presents legal issues for the district and should be an ethical issue for adults.

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