GARZA

PROPOSAL

GARZA INDEPENDENCE
HIGH SCHOOL
11600 Chicon St.
Austin, TX 78702
 INTRODUCTION

ABOUT US

Student Awareness Foundation for Equity is a student lead

group whose priority is to make Garza Independence High
School an equitable, loving, and caring environment. We are
reaching to achieve liberation within our school and district.
Our work in our school has provided us with insight on the
current needs of our students, which is why we created this
proposal to address one of the most pressing needs our
students have expressed.
 THE PROBLEM
Our school currently has no access to school
buses; only people with cars and access to city
buses are able to get to school semi-reliably.
When we asked students about transportation,
we were most surprised by how unsafe kids felt.
They described situations with “drugged up
men” and having to wait almost 2 hours or more
to get to school. Students also talked about how
city buses were not reliable or time efficient.
Unfortunately, we’ve found that Capital Metro
cannot guarantee that buses will not be
canceled, leaving students potentially stranded
or late for class. Perhaps Austin used to be a
smaller, easier city for students to navigate, but
if we want kids to have safe and reliable
transportation, we need to provide it.
Our school is built on the principles of working
with multi-problem, impoverished and hard to
reach individuals but we can’t fulfill that goal
until we’re able to offer reliable transportation for
students. And how do we fulfill that goal? Buses.
 OUR SOLUTIONS

In recent data we’ve collected, we found that SURVEY RESULTS

98.3% of students want buses for our school
and 82.8% know someone who would benefit
from school buses being implemented. We #1 Do you want Garza to
also found that 56.9% of students believe they have school buses?
would benefit from buses. 98.3%
Our students have spoken and it's our job to 98.3% of students answered
listen and take action. Now the question is, 'Yes' to this question
how can we help them?

1LASA HIGH SCHOOL

One solution we’ve found is that our students could

#2 Do you know anyone who
easily ride in the buses that LASA High School
would benefit from busses
provides for their students. Due to LASA being a
magnet school, they have ample amounts of buses 82.8% being implemented?

and resources to share. Our students come from all 82.8% of students answered

over AISD which makes it hard to pinpoint exactly 'Yes' to this question
where buses will be needed. However, this problem
could be easily solved because LASA’s bus routes
are already spread all over AISD. Sharing buses
with LASA will reduce cost for the district but also
reduce the fear, worry, and dread our students
currently feel from riding the city buses.
#3 Would you benefit from
school busses being
LASA recently moved campuses, making this the
implemented?
perfect opportunity to implement this new bus
system. Not only is Garza five minutes away from
56.9%
LASA but we also end school at the relatively same 56.9% of students answered
time. LASA ends school at 3:55pm while Garza 'Yes' to this question

finishes at 3:35pm; leaving enough time for buses

to pick up Garza students and then LASA students.
 OUR SOLUTIONS CONT...

2 OUR OWN BUSES

Another solution would be to provide Garza with our own school buses
and base it off magnet school bus routes like LASA High School. This
solution would make it easier for our students to have a direct route to
and from school instead of having to go from one school to another.
Although this will cost the district more money, it will make it safer for our
students to get to school. Having our own buses will eliminate the need
for a middleman and provide Garza with its own secure bus system. This
will give our school more control over where the buses are going; giving
us the opportunity to better serve our students. Garza is a year round
school, meaning we need buses in the summer as well. Being able to
have our own buses would ensure that our students have access to
transport even in the summer. Our students come from all over the
district and it’s important to us that they are ALL able to benefit from this.
 CONTACT INFO

We would like to know about the progress of this project

and any feedback you have to give! Please feel free to
contact the individuals down below for more information.

LEONARDO SCALISSI
512-992-3607
leonardoscalissi@gmail.com

ELAINE MCGINTY
737-228-3344
elaine.mcginty@austinisd.org