The Transportation Center team leader says all but two routes meet the one-hour criterion. The two that do not take hearing-impaired students to El Paso ISD for classes, a route requiring a longer travel time. The Transportation Department provides timely service to special education students. Students often use these routes to return home following after-school functions. Other routes take students, mostly elementary students, to tutorial programs.
Some routes take younger students to after-school programs.
One route brings O'Shea Elementary students to Socorro High School on Wednesday mornings for free haircuts. The district is not entitled to state reimbursement for activity routes. The routes are provided to allow students to participate in programs they would otherwise miss. Without a bus trip home after practice, many students either would have to drop out of after-school programs or walk long distances home, usually after dark. These students live within two miles of the school they attend.