In less than a week 270 people have signed a Change.org petition asking the school board at Oak Park and River Forest High School not to approve an application for a waiver that allows the school not to provide free bus transportation to and from school for students who live 1.5 miles or more away from the school. The Illinois School Code requires public schools to provide such free bus service unless the school gets a waiver from the state because mass transit options exist. Traditionally OPRF applies for and receives such a waiver, called a mass transit exclusion, because PACE buses run on Harlem, Oak Park, Ridgeland and Austin Avenues as well as Lake Street and North Avenue. This year’s board vote is scheduled for Sept. 24.
But some parents want OPRF to not apply for the waiver and provide bus service for students who otherwise would qualify for it saying that PACE buses often run late or don’t show up at all leaving kids scrambling to get to school on time or arriving late and getting a tardy. Often times parents will get a text or a call from their child waiting at bus stop asking for a last minute ride to school.
“We urge the board of education to reject the proposed Mass Transit Exclusion Resolution scheduled for consideration on Sept. 24, 2026,” the petition states.
“The existence of public transportation in our community does not, by itself, demonstrate that it provides safe, reliable, and adequate transportation for District 200 students. This is particularly important for students in the extremes of Oak Park and River Forest who rely on PACE bus service to travel to and from Oak Park and River Forest High School. Students and families have experienced delays, long waits, cancellations, service disruptions and the famous ‘ghost buses’ that promise arrival but never appear. Routes can be cancelled with little or no warning, and “ghost buses” are regularly on the schedule. When this happens, students can be left waiting without a dependable way to get to school or get home, causing parents to scramble to secure rides for our children, including in inclement weather.”
Vanessa Izar-McFadden mother of an OPRF junior and a 2026 OPRF graduate, started the petition. She finally got fed up with the spotty PACE service and noticed the application for the waiver on the school board’s agenda and decided to do something.
Izar-McFadden lives in southeast Oak Park about 1.7 miles away from OPRF. Izar-McFadden, who works from home, often ends up driving her daughter to school when the Ridgeland PACE bus is late or cancelled, which is most days thus far this year.
“No one really realizes the struggle we have getting our kids to school,” Izar-McFadden said. “It just causes an extra level of stress and anxiety that’s just not necessary.”
Izar-McFadden says her daughter has been late to school and received a tardy three times this year because the bus was late.
“Rarely do they get to their classes on time when the buses are not on time,” Izar-McFadden said.
Izar-McFadden said that it takes her daughter about 40 minutes to walk to school which can be tough in the morning and says that she is not comfortable with her daughter biking to school.
“I know some people feel comfortable having their kids bike,” Izar-McFadden said. “I just don’t feel like this town is safe enough for biking with all the accidents we’ve had with drivers and bikes.”
The home of Lee Kantz, who also lives in southeast Oak Park, is about 2.1 miles from OPRF. His daughter, also a junior, has had the same problems as Izar-McFadden’s daughter with the Ridgeland bus.
“Since the beginning of this school year I think the bus has shown up at its appointed time maybe four times so I often get calls ‘Dad, the bus the isn’t coming,’” Kantz said adding that he typically ends up driving his daughter to school.
“She should have a way to get to school that doesn’t involve her parents having to drive her,” Kantz said.
All the added driving kids to school contributes to congestion around the school during drop off and pick up times.
Izar-McFadden says that in the past she has called PACE to complain about the inconsistent bus service.
“It got better for a week or two but then it went back to the same issues,” Izar-McFadden said.
Many OPRF students who live in River Forest live more than 1.5 miles from OPRF and even if they don’t they would, without a waiver, probably qualify for free bus service because they have to cross Harlem Avenue, which is considered a dangerous road, to get to OPRF.
When the waiver renewal came up last year OPRF school board member Kathleen Odell expressed interest in exploring what it would cost for OPRF to offer bus service to students who, absent the waiver, would qualify for it. Some other board members have requested information about the number of tardies related to late buses and want to look into the issue more deeply.