Students who rely on school buses to attend consolidated high schools spend nearly twice as long traveling to and from school as students in schools that had not been consolidated, a survey conducted in West Virginia by researchers from the Arlington, Va.-based Rural School and Community Trust has found.
According to the survey of four counties in the state, two with consolidated high schools and two without, students who took a bus to school spent an average of 48 minutes traveling to school each way, compared with 23 minutes for students in nonconsolidated districts. The study also found that students with longer commutes participated in fewer extracurricular activities than their peers with shorter travel times did.
There has been an uptick in political pushback against social-emotional learning, with the Education Department recently saying some schools "have sought to veil discriminatory policies" with terms like SEL.
Chloe Kienzle of Arlington, Va., holds a sign as she stands outside the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Washington. The department this week said it was cutting nearly half its staff.
The exterior of the Department of Education building in Washington on Thursday, December 14, 2017. The department's Washington office and regional offices will be closed on Wednesday for "security reasons," according to an email sent to staff members.
All content on Education Week's websites is protected by copyright. No part of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder. Readers may make up to 5 print copies of this publication at no cost for personal, non-commercial use, provided that each includes a full citation of the source. For additional print copies, or for permission for other uses of the content, visit www.edweek.org/help/reprints-photocopies-and-licensing-of-content or email reprints@educationweek.org and include information on how you would like to use the content. Want to seamlessly share more EdWeek content with your colleagues? Contact us today at pages.edweek.org/ew-for-districts-learn-more.html to learn about how group online subscriptions can complement professional learning in your district or organization.
