Gavin Milam, Staff Writer
As a lot of juniors and seniors saw first-hand a new problem that had come to light: The buses to the Allegan County Area Technical and Education Center (ACATEC or “Votech”) were horribly cramped during the first couple weeks of school.
Many students were forced to fit three to a seat on the buses, even when they could barely fit two people. Students from both morning and afternoon riding can attest to the situation.
“Of course it’s too cramped, but not overly awful. People last year certainly had this sort of ‘unofficial seating chart,’ but this year, people just sit wherever they can get,” says Margaret Fenner, ‘19, a morning bus rider.
“It’s way worse than last year, and I don’t know how it could be fixed. I switched to driving because I didn’t want to be in such a crowded area, and it’s a lot of gas usage, but it’s so much better. I’d only go back on that bus in the late, icy winter,” says Lexy Ebbitt, an afternoon rider who switched to driving everyday.
“The thing about Votech bussing is… here: There’s too many students for one bus, but way too little for two buses… However, as people have seen, the problem has kind of fixed itself. More students have started driving, and I’m pretty sure others have dropped out of Votech, so it’s much better now,”said Principal Jeremy Wright.
Whether this will actually fix the issue is still up to debate. Some students assume that nothing beneficial will be done, and others have created theories as to why nothing else happened this year so far to help. Some accuse the staff of being lazy or uncaring, while others sympathize and think it’s just not in the budget.
Many students now seem to be toning down their complaints, however. The intensity of the situation has certainly died down, and stability has been somewhat achieved. Time will tell the rest of the situation.