Salome district announces afternoon double bus run for students

Salome and Indian Hills parents had to rearrange pickups, after-school care and evening work schedules after Salome Consolidated Elementary School District #30 posted an afternoon double bus run and warned that all times were approximate. The notice was issued in English and Spanish, a sign the district was trying to reach every household affected by the route change.

The practical issue is simple, but the stakes are not. In a rural district where many families depend on buses to get children home, a double run can mean a longer wait at the stop and a later arrival at home. The district did not spell out a special emergency behind the change, but its transportation alert put the route adjustment front and center, ahead of other news on the district page.

That matters for working parents in Salome and Indian Hills, where one late afternoon can mean a missed shift, a scramble for childcare or a delayed dinner routine. The district’s transportation page says it puts top priority on safe, reliable transportation for students and staff, including special-needs transportation, and it uses SIS text, voice and email messages, the website, Facebook and phone calls for urgent updates. In a small district, that system is not a convenience. It is the backbone of how families find out whether buses are running on time.

The April 13 notice also fits a pattern that suggests the district has been managing repeated transportation strain. On Feb. 3, the district told Salome and Indian Hills parents that students would need to be dropped off and picked up at the school until further notice, and said that protocol would apply whenever only one bus or one bus driver was available, including for game days, field trips or weather conditions. Regular service resumed Feb. 24. District records also reference double bus runs in May 2025 because the district was down to only one bus driver.

An earlier schedule from Oct. 9, 2025 showed how those changes can stretch an afternoon: one double bus run left Salome Elementary School at 2:45 p.m. and returned at 3:30 p.m., with all times listed as approximate. That history makes the April 13 alert look less like a one-off inconvenience and more like an ongoing transportation workaround that families in this part of La Paz County have had to absorb before.

The district handbook lists Superintendent Jennifer Walton, Business Manager Esmeralda Cruz and Administrative Assistant/Attendance Jacqueline Boyas. It also says the governing board has five elected community residents and meets on the third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at Salome Elementary School. For families tracking a changing bus schedule, the district office number is 928-859-3339, and the county’s school-district map identifies Salome Consolidated Elementary School District #30 as one of La Paz County’s public education systems.