OPINION: Monroe Public Schools must do a better job at transportation

Monroe Public Schools has mainly done an amazing job with keeping students as safe as possible throughout their Return to Learn plan. With keeping things sanitized after every use and enforcing the mask policy, it has altogether been successful. But there is one area that they have severely fallen short on keeping everyone safe— bussing. The current situation of the bussing is disappointing and needs to be fixed.

When told about the Return to Learn plan, busses were one of the number one concerns parents and students had. It was said that there were going to be temperature checks before getting on the bus, social distancing was going to be enforced with seats not allowed to be used, and masks would be continually enforced on the way home by the driver and students alike. Sadly, this was not the case.

When getting on the bus, students entered, were asked their name, then they were free to go sit down wherever they pleased. This was very disappointing. How can students ensure their safety if they do not know if anybody is running a fever, which is a major symptom of Covid? That truly is a worry that many students have, and dismissing this procedure failed to help students keep a peace of mind.

Also, the lack of social distancing was awful. There were students sitting together in seats who were not related, huge crowds in areas of the bus, and it was very hard for those students who did want to stay socially distanced to proceed with doing so due to the sporadic way students were sitting.

Getting on the bus was very troubling when it came to masks. It got to the point where some students were no longer wearing their mask, some had it under their nose, and there have even been some people saying their bus driver was not wearing their mask properly. What is the point of keeping everything enforced during the school day when these safety measures are no longer in effect on the ride home?

The bussing situation right now is very dangerous for students’ health. Not every student has the opportunity to take themselves to school nor do they have anybody to take them, so the bus is the only option. Seeing these safety precautions that were supposed to be in place not be fulfilled was very sad to say the least. Keeping everyone safe during the school day does nothing if it is not enforced on the ride home.