‘A Lot Of Road To Cover’: As Schools Close, Some Kids Face Longer Bus Rides

As school districts become larger and more centralized, some Vermont students could face longer bus rides. (Elodie Reed/VPR File)

As Vermont’s school districts become larger and more centralized, some kids will feel the impact in how they get to and from school.

Every weekday, kids around the state get on the school bus. Damien is one of them.

“What the bus does is he goes by our house — ‘cause there’s more kids up [the road] — and then he’ll swoop around and then he’ll come back to my house,” he explained.

Damien is 11, and a 5th grader at Castleton Elementary School. The bus picks him up around 7:10 a.m.

“There’s been one time where I missed the bus ’cause left at 7:04, it went by my house at 7:04, and then I realized when I was walking down [the hill] that I saw it go to the school,” he said in an interview that was fact-checked with his mom, who, according to Damien, “wasn’t happy that I missed the bus. Because she had a work day.”

Read the rest of the story at VPR’s website.