Kivalina families scramble and students miss class amid extended school bus woes

In the Northwest Alaska village of Kivalina, the bus that families rely on to shuttle students to the school several miles away hasn’t been running for weeks.

Some parents have had to make alternate arrangements to drive students to school; some are riding ATVs to make the 30-minute, one-way commute to class; and some students have had to miss class altogether.

The Kisimġiugtuq School was constructed in 2022 about 7 miles inland from the village. The school was also planned as an evacuation site for the village, built in an area where residents would eventually relocate as Kivalina has seen increasing coastal storms.

When the school opened, the Northwest Arctic Borough School District bought two buses to transport children. But because of weather, as well as mechanical and staffing issues, the service has been unreliable, affecting attendance and causing some families to leave the village.

This fall, the buses have not run since Aug. 28, according to a notice on the school’s Facebook page. This time, service is suspended “until further notice” because the school district is installing cameras in the buses, school officials said.

When asked about the reasons for installing the cameras, several Kivalina residents said they have been complaining about the careless driving of the sole bus driver and said he hit a piece of equipment while transporting the students.

Kisimġiugtuq School Principal Jeremy Millard deferred all questions to the district office. Jeff Alexander, assistant to the superintendent at the school district, said he had not heard the complaints about the driver and said the district is installing cameras for “just safety, in general.” Alexander said the district ordered the cameras and expected them to arrive last week.

This week, bus service hadn’t been restored, according to Leroy Adams, the culture coordinator at the Kivalina IRA Council.

While the buses are not in service, Alexander said, students are still expected to attend school.

“The parents are responsible for getting the kids to the school,” Alexander said. As for the buses, he added, “We just do that as a service.”

Alexander said he didn’t know how many students have been missing school since the bus stopped running.

“I’m sure that attendance has dropped, but I don’t have any statistics,” he said. A total of 150 students were enrolled in classes at Kisimġiugtuq School in September, according to a report by the superintendent.

Some parents in Kivalina have been bringing their kids to school using their cars or four-wheelers, and older students sometimes ride ATVs on their own, Kivalina City Mayor Austin Swan said. The costs can add up: Gas in Kivalina costs about $6.62 per gallon, according to the Kivalina gas station.

“The tribe is providing gas for anyone that has a truck or vehicle with a driver’s license to shuttle our kids up to school,” said Adams, with the tribe. “They drive not only their kids but their neighbors’ kids and other kids as well.”

Adams said that “it might be another couple of weeks before they restore the bus service.”

Several parents expressed dismay with the intermittent service.

Josie Adams, the mother of two students ages 6 and 12 years old, said her children have been missing school since the bus stopped running.

“My friend offered to ride them over and back but space (is) limited so it’s not guaranteed for everyday ride,” she said in a Facebook message.

Adams said she received a call from the school to remind her that her children have unexcused absences.

“I don’t know how to respond. Unbelievable,” she said. “I’m literally in tears.

“They are trying to cover the fact they have not provided adequate transportation,” she added. “It’s a way of placing blame on residents.”

[Climate change destroyed the Alaska village of Newtok. Its residents are starting over in a new town.]

Unreliable service

Commuting to school has been a challenge for two years, since the school’s opening.

In winter 2022, the two used buses the district originally purchased were not running consistently because of bad weather and mechanical issues, Millard said at the time. Bus service interruptions significantly affected student attendance, Millard had said, and on some days without bus service, fewer than half of students would make it to school. Absences caused by lack of transportation or dangerous weather were excused back then, Millard had said.

In 2023, new buses arrived in Kivalina but the challenges persisted: The school opening was delayed because of the issues with the water system. Students also had to miss classes when the facility was closed during severe storms and find a way to commute when the buses were not running. Some families left Kivalina because of unreliable school operations.

Since 2022, the school has had only one bus driver, who works a shift on rotation, so there has been no bus service during his days off.

“The district has been advertising for over a year for the second one,” without success, Alexander said. “We even contacted the Department of Education trying to get help from them, but evidently, we’re not the only school district that’s looking for bus drivers.”

A one-way trip to Kivalina’s school usually takes between 15 and 20 minutes on a truck or bus and 30 minutes on an ATV, residents said. The commute follows a road that is often battered by storms and sometimes gets washed out or snowed in.

“The road is in good shape,” said Alexander, who visited the community this summer.

Kivalina residents said they often spot wildlife in the vicinity of the road, including polar bears and wolves. This month, residents have also reported bear sightings.

Resident Janet Mitchell shared several videos in which a bear was seen approaching the road.

“The students were waiting by the airport for a ride when one bear went as far as the clinic. Fortunately, it didn’t come within the perimeter of town,” she said. “I can vouch for the dangers right now.”

Alexander said that “the wildlife has not been a factor at all” for their concern.

For Adams, whose children have been missing school since late August, the frustration around the school commute reached a breaking point.

“I’m moving my family” to another community, she said, “so my kids can go to school every day.”