“Maria Gonzalez’s daughters attend schools at Community School District 308 in Oswego and do not have the option of taking public transportation. Melanie, 15, attends high school between 7:20 a.m. and 2:40 p.m. and must get to the bus stop at 6:25 a.m. Dayana, 10, starts classes at 8:45 a.m. and ends at 3:45 p.m., and she needs to be at her bus stop around 8:25 a.m.

Some days, the bus doesn’t come. The girls have to stay home and attend classes online since Gonzalez is a single mother who works at a factory from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is rarely able to drive her daughters to school.

Although her daughters are usually able to get a bus to school, buses are delayed in the evening. Sometimes Dayana comes back home 30-45 minutes late and misses her after-school activities.

Without anyone to watch her daughters, Gonzalez’s worries about their safety. Sometimes she is so worried, she chooses to miss work, a risky proposition for a family with a single income. ‘When they are at home, sometimes I have to stay with them because I don’t have people to support me.’”

Maria is a POWER-PAC IL parent leader, although this is not identified in the story. Read the full article here.