Arizona Teen Suffers Heat Stroke After School District Cuts Bus Service

An Arizona teen is recovering after suffering severe heat stroke and burns while walking home from school in triple-digit heat, following changes to her school district’s transportation policy.

June Shaver, a 17-year-old junior at Dysart High School in El Mirage, collapsed on her way home during a 112-degree day in early August. With her guardians at work and no bus service available, she walked the roughly two miles from campus.

“I started hallucinating, I felt like I could see someone walking towards me… my vision was colored, it was blue and green,” Shaver recalled.

Body camera video from El Mirage police shows officers arriving after a passerby spotted her lying on hot asphalt. Shaver had a seizure and her body temperature climbed to 107 degrees. She sustained second and third-degree burns and spent all of August in the hospital.

Her guardians say she was not eligible for district transportation because of a new policy that excludes high school students who live within two miles of campus. Dysart Unified School District says the decision was made to manage costs and maintain an aging bus fleet. Officials noted that a failed 2024 bond left the district unable to replace old buses, but said a new bond on the ballot this November could reopen the issue.

“With the majority of our buses being 15–20 years old, it is becoming more and more difficult and expensive to maintain them,” the district said in a statement. “If the bond measure is approved by voters, we would certainly re-evaluate the transportation situation.”

Shaver is still recovering and may not return to in-person classes until next semester. Despite her ordeal, she says she hopes her story prevents others from suffering the same fate.

“I’m more so not wanting it to happen to anyone else,” she said. “If I have friends who have to walk home, I’ll be like, ‘Hey, get in my car!’”

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