Too full, cramped, and overcrowded. These are some of the words one would use to describe the current space issue on the Ventura High School Avenue bus. Due to this issue, students are not able to get on the bus because of the limited seating available to students.

Campus guard Linda Lorenzana’s insight on the issue is: “Yes, a lot of kids were getting left behind.”

When asked why another bus is not brought in, Lorenzana responds with,“[Administration] has been calling for dispatch, [but] sometimes the bus drivers call [for dispatch] themselves, and another [bus] is already on its way,” thus creating confusion.

VHS custodian, Daniel Sandoval, was asked about the issue, and he brought up another flaw in the school bus system besides space.

“What happens is a lot of the time we have bus drivers that come and they’re picking up two routes, because one of the routes isn’t showing up, but the bad thing is they don’t announce it to the kids, so a lot of kids get left behind because they don’t know that they’re supposed to get on that bus,” Sandoval said.

Sandoval says that another problem with the bus system is that when something occurs and a bus cannot pick up their designated route, then a different bus must come in to assist. However, the problem with this is that the drivers don’t change the route number of their bus, and also don’t announce that they are filling in for a different route to the students, therefore causing students to miss their bus.

Some students at VHS have no other mode of transportation to and from school other than walking, which is not plausible for all students -hence why the school bus system is in place- therefore it’s important to resolve the space and route change issues promptly.