Gas prices and school buses

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Just curious as to what other school districts around the country are doing to help offset the high gas prices. </p>

<p>I know our district has combined several bus routes. DS’s ride home would be over 70 minutes because of the combined route. (We try to do errands at that time and pick him up on the days he would normally take the bus. 70-75 minutes afterschool is just too much.) </p>

<p>We also received a letter over the weekend from the HS principal. Our School District is going to start charging $20/per student for each extracurricular activity that involves transportation. We’ll pay $40 for our 2 children as each is involved in one sport. I don’t think any of their other activities involves afterschool buses.</p>

2

<p>Our district has reduced late bus runs to only two per week, so for the other three days either one of us leaves work early to do a pickup or we try to negotiate a carpool with other parents. It is a hassle, but doable…but I feel for parents who really can’t afford it, I think their children are dropping activities and/or sports because of it</p>

3

<p>I have no idea how they are going to pay for it.
Transportation costs were already higher than the state compensates for when gas went to $3+ gall ( and more for diesel), and higher than other regions because of the choice factors in assigning schools.
[With</a> gas up, how to get down to school?](<a href=“http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/377685_schooltravel04.html]With”>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/377685_schooltravel04.html)</p>

4

<p>Nothing changed in our district.</p>

5

<p>Bus routes in our district were already pretty efficient, due to a shortage of bus drivers. So no changes here … yet.</p>

6

<p>The final result in our public school system is still to be determined. Our school system was involved in an extremely long desegregation case - I think the longest in the country, took 25 years to be resolved. Part of the resolution was the creation of magnet schools. Kids were being bussed to the magnet schools on pick-up routes. One month after school started, the system announced that the pick-up routes would be stopped and kids could only be dropped off at their zoned school for school system transport to the magnet, AND, since they were not enrolled at the zoned school, could not wait at the school either before or after - parents had to leave them just as the bus is leaving and be ready to pick them up at the end of school. Since school started in early August, and this announcement was just made week before last - it has disrupted the entire magnet system, and may destroy the magnets.
Unfortunately, the magnet kids with the least resoures will suffer most - their parents are the least able to make adjustments to these last minute changes.</p>

7

<p>Here free bus service is only offered to those who live 2.5 miles or more from the school. If you live closer, but want the bus, you have to pay. A neighbor’s kid takes the bus only one way (it is about 1.5 miles) and she told me it costs $200/year, so I suppose it would be about twice that for a round trip. (I’m making my kid walk).</p>