The Connecticut legislation passed to provide fare free transit city bus passes to high school students should be called the “Juan Cruz Law,” according to University High School of Science and Engineering Principal Sean Tomany.
Tomany recalls the student, whom he had disciplined for a late arrival, as revealing to him a new and different outlook on the plight of teens in Hartford.
Cruz told Tomany he missed school because “there was no room on the bus.” There was not even standing room, because so many children were taking the city bus to school.
“It’s so cold out you should be glad I am here at all,” Cruz told Tomany at the time.
At that point Tomany realized he had inadvertently been blind to the suffering of students, some experiencing homelessness, some marginalized through poverty, who did not have the same chance to succeed as “my kids did,” Tomany said.
Simple things such as a mid-day trip to a doctor’s appointment, then returning to school, sports and music activities after school, and socializing with friends were denied to them because of lack of transportation.
One boy had to walk his little brother to school because his mother worked third shift and didn’t get home until 8 a.m., so otherwise the younger child would miss the school bus every Monday, and thereby be marked absent, Tomany said.
Tomany also recalls a student who was shot and killed and said he wonders if being less isolated may have saved the student’s life.
In possession of a fare free transit card, “they have a chance to be a kid,” Tomany said.
Tomany said he decided to reach out to state Rep. Jeff Currey, who has been an advocate for resolving inequities in the state education system and caught up with him at a Yard Goats game and explained the situation. Currey acted as the catalyst for the funding that brought the bus passes.
Through HB Bill 5523, which became Public Act 24-81,a pilot program was launched to give students in Hartford and New Haven free city bus passes. It was for student in grades nine through 12 and provided $175,000 in a grant-in-aid to each of the public school districts, the act says. The bus passes are for state-owned or state-controlled public bus transportation service
Tomany also decided to create a group of students at his high school who were willing to testify to the inequities in a public hearing. It’s called the Social Justice League and the group attracted students who needed the passes as well as those who wanted to help their friends, even though they had parents who could provide rides as needed. Tomany established the group last year to plan the fare free transit efforts for the legislative session.
‘Really need to be part of this’
“Disconnection” among youth in Hartford as well as statewide is partially attributed to their inability to participate in extracurricular activities at school or work due to lack of safe, reliable transportation, according to high school junior, Oluwaseyi Oluborode, who agrees that it is a problem.
Born in the United States, and a dual citizen of Nigeria, Oluborode, whose nickname is Olu, is enthusiastic about the initiative created by state to provide the bus passes.
“I really, really need to be part of this,” Oluborode said she decided after hearing about the opportunity to participate as a media contact and outreach coordinator for the high school’s Social Justice League’s efforts to reconnect young people with their community.
The bus pass program, which provides a no cost bus transit card for affected students, is gradually expanding from University High School of Science and Engineering to other high schools in the Hartford Public School District. Students at Weaver High School recently received the transit passes, and Tomany is working with other high school principals to roll out the program throughout the city. The cards are good for 30 days and then renewed.
Tomany said that when he meets with students to hand out the cards, he encourages them to use them to “get a job, go to the Mall, join the Boys of Girls Club” and participate in the community by doing the same things other kids their age are doing.”
The students who have a 3.5 grade average are also eligible to participate in college level classes at the University of Hartford, which partners with University High School to offer opportunities for advanced learning on their campus. The fare free transit cards provide transportation for them to get a glimpse of the opportunities higher education provides, while earning college credits.
“This was a moment of fate,” Oluborode recalls, speaking of the invitation to join the Social Justice League. “I don’t know of any club that has given me a sense of purpose like this club has.”
Now a junior at University High School of Science and Engineering, Oluborode said she believes that the fare free transit cards used on city buses offer hope to students, who were previously unable to participate in before or after school activities or employment due to lack of transportation.
She considers her magnet high school very special. With just 403 students in attendance, many of her classmates rely heavily on public transportation to travel to school and back home again, she said.
In an example of how transportation impacts students, she said the school offers a Robotics Club and sports programs, among other activities, which run after school. But many students feel “unsafe walking home” late and the opportunity to have a free bus pass “is a saving grace,” for them, Oluborode said.
Alternately, some students use the bus passes to travel to after school employment, generating much needed income for themselves and their families.
Nariyah Lindsay, president of the Social Justice League at University High School of Science and Engineering, said she believes in the program though she found a solution on her own by saving up to buy a car. Taking public transportation was “really hard, to be honest,” she said. She “religiously took the city bus since freshman year,” until she obtained her own transportation, which was “a big relief,” she said.
Lindsay previously had waited for the bus in pouring rain, snow and was often late for school. At times the bus ran late or did not show up at all due to inclement weather. “I want those who don’t have (the opportunity to buy their own car) to still have the fare for transportation,” she said.
Employed at the Shake Shack in West Hartford, Lindsay also plays a number of sports and has volleyball practice after school most days.
But according to Oluborode, many students say “I can’t go” to an event or job interview “because I don’t have a ride” or “can’t stay after school” to participate in extracurricular activities for the same reason. Often both parents are both working or do not have reliable transportation themselves, the students said..
Oluborode said students using the bus pass program receive weekly surveys to track school attendance, grades, community engagement and other relevant data. Lindsay said they should eventually be able to show the transit passes are having a positive.effect on youth disconnection. “There is no other answer but yes, hopefully,” she said.
Lindsay said it was a powerful experience for her “to testify at the state Capitol last winter. “I saw so many policy makers, business men and women there. My voice matters no matter how small I think I am,” she said. Her testimony appeared on television and on YouTube videos. “It was crazy,” she said, recalling the impact of the legislative hearing in late February.
Oluborode said she believes that “the influx of resources creates a mutually beneficial, positive outcome” for the Hartford community. Students who obtain employment in neighborhoods with more resources, ultimately share the gains with the members of their home community, she said.
Oluborode said that, “students who felt isolated and stuck in place” find that the fare free transit passes give them “a sense of purpose. Youth who “experience a sense of hopelessness and lack of community” find the program “impactful.”
She said the best part of the initiative is “seeing the joy” on her peers’ faces. “Something so practical gets them where they need to be,” she notes.
“The high concentration of poverty, with less opportunity for employment makes… (young people) feel isolated. Especially when they have to pay for bus fare every time they go anywhere,” she said.
Lindsay added that “seeing Mr.Tomany hand out bus passes and watching students’ faces light up,” was the best part for her. “Everyone was so happy.”
Oluborode said she hopes that the initiative will expand as, “Every town is facing a crisis of youth disconnection.”
Lindsay said she also has seen children “stressing out,” because they don’t have the money to buy a pass.
“How do we get this for the entire state of Connecticut? This is not a want- it is a need,” she said.
