Now students in the Mentor Public Schools district can ride Laketran for free
By Mimi Vanderhaven
These days, so many high schoolers have after-school jobs, internships and extracurriculars. For busy parents, getting them there can seem like a full-time chauffeur service.
But for families living within the Mentor Public Schools district, that just became a mission accomplished.
As part of a pilot program partnering with Laketran, students in grades 9-12 can ride the local bus routes after school free of charge.
Parents opt in to give permission to the Cardinal GO program, which kicked off last month. When students sign up, they get access to an app with a QR code on their smartphone to tap on a device on the bus.
“The Cardinal GO program fits perfectly with our real-world learning opportunities at Mentor Schools,” says Superintendent Bill Porter. “We know it’s important for students to get access to jobs when they’re ready to do so. We know it’s important for students to have internships to get them ready for the real world and to take away that barrier if they don’t have to have transportation to get somewhere.”
According to Laketran CEO Ben Capelle, students will have many route options to consider. Last year, the transportation service launched Route 8, its first new bus route in 20 years, to take riders from Mentor High School directly to Lakeland Community College, Tyler Boulevard and Mentor-on-the-Lake. Most of Lake County will be accessible to students now, from Willoughby to Painesville.
“This opens the door to so many community resources for us, ranging from the library to job locations,” says Bill. “It really gives our students an opportunity to branch out and removes the barrier of not having a car, not having a ride.”
This fully grant-funded program will be in place for two years, in hopes of continuing after that.
The partnership between Mentor Schools and Laketran is a first for the area, and Ben says they plan to extend the program to other interested Lake County High Schools in the future.
The Mentor School system educates 7,400 students from pre-K to 12th grade in seven elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school and one school for students with autism.