High School students who live in Tres Pinos, Paicines and
Panoche may not have to find rides to school this fall, if the San
Benito High School District decides to extend a bus route out to
Paicines.
High School students who live in Tres Pinos, Paicines and Panoche may not have to find rides to school this fall, if the San Benito High School District decides to extend a bus route out to Paicines.
Board member Judith Rider brought the idea of extending the special education bus route to Paicines to the board after community members brought the idea to her attention.
“I think it would be nice if it’s not too costly to the district,” she said. “I’d like to see kids be able to get to school.”
Rider, who is a resident of Tres Pinos, said when her children went to SBHS in the early 90s, there was a bus that came out and picked them up.
Currently, special education route 1, which is a smaller bus that can carry three wheel chair students and 14 others, makes a loop from Tres Pinos at 7:32 a.m. and reaches SBHS at 8:15 a.m. If the district agrees to extend its route to Paicines, it would begin at 7:15 a.m. and pick up all students who would fit in the bus.
There are currently three incoming freshmen from Panoche School and 15 from Tres Pinos School.
Tres Pinos School District President Lisa Tobias said most high school students from there are driven by their parents, but Jerry Hammond, president of the Panoche School Board, said it would be very helpful to have the bus come to Paicines. Although Panoche is about 50 miles out, it would be much more convenient for parents to drop their kids off there, instead of having to drive all the way into Hollister.
“I think it would really help the parents out here,” he said. “When my kids went to the high school in the 70s, there was a van that came out to Panoche to pick them up.”
Although it would be helpful to the parents of 18 kids, it wouldn’t be cheap for the district. The gas to make the trip would cost roughly $52 a day, which along with the cost of a driver comes to $11,000 a year.
SBHSD Transportation Director Gary Goularte said the idea of extending the bus route to Paicines isn’t something that has to be set in stone.
“We can always start the year off trying it, and if we don’t have the kids, we can stop,” he said.
The board hasn’t decided if it will bring back busing to Paicines and Tres Pinos just yet, however, it has agreed to talk with parents in those communities and see if the need is there.
