Coachella Valley High School faces school bus overcrowding issue
We are following Coachella Valley Unified School District families concerns about overcrowded buses.
Students say their school buses get at capacity at times due to a rule of two students per seat. This rule causes students to have to wait to be picked up by another bus.
Watch our I-Team investigation on school bus safety
Along with class and playing football, Jorge Mejia said, so far, his freshman year at Coachella Valley High School has been jam-packed.
“There’s a lot of overloads,” Mejia said. “We have to sometimes have three kids in a seat, which is a two-seater. All buses are two seaters. So, sometimes we have to do three kids in a seat, and it’s like really hard. We’re all squished.”
Mejia said he and other students experience overcrowding while taking the bus to school.
It’s something CVHS sophomore Andrew Garcia said he went through, even at one point having to wait longer for one to take him.
“No more room,” Garcia said. “So, the bus (driver) told us to wait until another bus comes. And it was 15 minutes later.”
Coachella Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) transportation leaders said this has been an issue for a few years, especially around the beginning of school.
“It’s typically the overcrowding of the bus, the timing of the bus, the delays and the heat, frankly, starting in August,” CVUSD Director of Transportation Apolonio Del Toro said. “Those are the three biggest things we typically see.”
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Del Toro said drivers typically follow a general rule of two students per seat.
However, he said more students can fit in the seat, as long as the bus’s aisle remains clear.
“When we route buses, it’s based on capacity,” Del Toro said. “The bus capacity is stated on the bus. That’s a 1960 rule. It’s usually a 39-inch seat. But that’s based for children with a 13-inch waist or less. That doesn’t apply to high school. High school, obviously, there are a lot more grown kids. So that rule, that capacity limit for that bus, will be different for high school.”
But Del Toro and others are addressing the issue.
“With funding being restricted, I still have to make the case of we do need the resources to move these students efficiently,” Del Toro said. “But, it’s a balance. So, it’s really hard.”
Del Toro said school buses can also be cited by California Highway Patrol if they are overcrowded.
CVUSD district officials can be reached at (760) 399-5137.
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