Recently, there has been school-wide discussion about issues with school transportation at MIA. Every student deserves the opportunity to get an education every day, 5 days a week. They shouldn’t be forced away from that due to struggles to find a way to get to school. Now, as if it wasn’t already a struggle, Collier County Public Schools are suggesting the buses will be taken away, leaving students to figure out some other way. In a recent poll, students at MIA were asked to share their own input on the topic.
Students in grades 9-12 were asked to answer this survey asking about their school transportation situation. The majority of students who answered/participated in this poll were in grade 11 at 54.1% of respondents. 31.1% were in 9th grade, the next largest demographic, and the least answers include the sophomores with 14.8%. Though students 9-12 were asked to answer, no students in grade 12 answered. This is likely because the majority of the seniors have either graduated early, or have a license and parking spot. So, the students answering are all underclassmen which would explain why they feel that transportation is an issue.
Next, students were asked to record how they got to school. 52.5% of students answered parent driver, Meaning a parental figure or guardian of some sort drives them and drops them off at school each morning. 29.5% of students answered that they drive themselves. This means that they have a parking spot at MIA and drive themselves to school every morning. 13.1% of the students either walk or bike to school whether it’s from their house, a friend, etc. Another 13.2% claim they take the bus every morning for school, meaning they rely on the bus to get to school on time every morning to be able to receive an education everyday. Lastly, 9.8% of the students carpool, meaning they get picked up and drive with a friend who has a parking spot at MIA. Of the 8 students who answered that they take the bus, 4 of those students are in grade 9, 3 are in 10th, and 1 of them is in 11th.
Then, students were asked if they would take the bus if it was more convenient. Due to the majority of the respondents being in their junior year, meaning they have a license, 78.7% answered no. According to the chart, 21.3% of the students would take the bus if it weren’t so inconvenient. There are only 2 buses for all students between both Marco and Naples. If there are any mechanical problems, they are then limited to 1 bus. This means in the morning, the first kid that is picked up by the bus is being picked up extremely early to make sure there is time for the bus to get everyone between Naples and Marco on time for school. School is already so early and difficult for kids to wake up and learn at that hour, now they are losing an hour or even more of sleep just because that is their only way to get to school. It is the same thing for after school. It takes some of the last students over an hour to get home after school ends just because there’s only one bus and both Marco and Naples kids on it. This makes it so they can’t get certain jobs, can’t get homework done as early, etc. By the time they get home, they don’t have time to do much. If it was more convenient and time efficient, 21.3% of the students would take the bus but don’t because it is too complex.
When asked if students would have a way to get to school if there wasn’t a bus, although a large 95% of the students would still have a way to get to school, there was still 3 students, all in grade 9, that would have absolutely no other way to get to school. The school bus is their only option to get to school each day and rely on this transportation method to get there on time each day. Whether there is only one bus, they have to wake up super early, etc. they don’t have a choice because otherwise they won’t be able to attend school.
This leads to the next question, in which the students were asked how they would get to MIA each day if there wasn’t a bus. 61.7% answered that they would have a parent or guardian take them, 41.7% said they would be able to drive themselves, 38.3% said they would be able to carpool with a friend, and 25% said they would have to walk or bike. But, those 5% of students that participated in this survey answered that they actually wouldn’t be able to attend MIA. The buses are their only option and if that is taken away, they would be forced to switch schools, leave friends, leave the place they know and start all over at a new school just because they don’t have a way to get there in the first place. Obviously this is an issue because all students should be able to attend school and shouldn’t be worrying about how they are going to get to school each day. Along with that, if the buses were taken away, all those students that were taking the bus may switch to their parents driving them. Due to the fact that everyone goes through the same car loop, all students that used to ride the bus are going to be added to the loop, causing backup.
Lastly, the students were asked if they thought student parking at MIA was an issue. While 27.1% of the students answered no, 72.9% of the students answered yes. 24 of those students who answered yes were in grade 11, 13 were in grade 9, and 6 were in grade 10. Majority of the students who answered yes were in grade 11 which would be students who were of age for a license. There is a very limited amount of parking spots at MIA. This leaves many students every year trying to find an alternative way to school, even if they have a license, because they don’t have somewhere to park. Along with the limited parking, Seniors get privilege on claiming spots first, which leaves many students without a parking spot and having to rely on others or the buses to get to school. If students had easier access to parking spots, this may not be such an issue.
Overall, MIA’s transportation is a big problem for students that attend the school. Although parking is an issue, the fact that we may lose our buses is an even bigger problem because then many students won’t have something to fall back on if not given a parking spot. Based of the poll answers, students strongly believe that transportation and parking at MIA is an issue and it may even result in multiple students having to transfer schools.
