LCPS acknowledges students travel overnight, ride in charter buses for longer trips

In the wake of a deadly school bus crash in Hudspeth County, the Las Cruces Public Schools district said Monday managing the district’s budget while safeguarding students is a delicate balance.

LCPS students regularly travel overnight from Hobbs or Carlsbad back to Las Cruces. These students also travel on Highway 180, the same road where an El Paso Independent School District charter bus was struck head-on Sunday, resulting in the death of a high school coach.

While LCPS buses have not encountered any problems, some understand why there is reason for concern.

“Our community suffered a very tragic loss over the weekend. I’d like to take a quick moment of silence to reflect on his life and that of our neighbor,” Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said during Monday’s city council meeting.

“It’s the worst nightmare for a school district if there happens to be an accident,” Jo Galvan, a spokeswoman with LCPS, told ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom.

Las Cruces students regularly travel on school buses provided by STS New Mexico, a bus company contracted by the district. For longer trips, the students ride larger charter buses.

“We won’t let a first time driver step into that role and drive those buses out of town,” said Van Wamel with STS, “They have to be with the company for at least six months and then go through the flat-nosed training with our school bus instructors.”

“On this year’s trips to Carlsbad and Hobbs, which are a lot farther, we put students in charters because of the distance and the safety,” said LCPS Athletic Director Ernest Viramontes.

District officials say money and time are two of the main reasons kids have to travel overnight. “A lot of it is budgetary,” Viramontes said, “and when we travel on Tuesdays the kids have to get back to school on Wednesday.”

“Several parents have requested they be allowed to either take their child themselves or pick them up at the event or take them back, so there is a policy where they can do that,” Galvad said.

“Because there is limited funding, because we don’t want kids out of school and we want kids to be safe – so all of those have to be considered when you send kids to travel long distances,” Galvan said.

It costs in between one and three thousand dollars every time the district sends kids out of town, LCPS said.