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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > June > 20
Friday, June 20, 2008
High school busing on the chopping block again
With just seven weeks before Dayton schools resume classes there is no plan to maintain special bus service and routes for high school students, which could force up to 3,000 kids to get to school by paying their own way on regular city bus routes.
School, city, county and business leaders last year worried that dropping high school bus service could erode school attendance by making it harder and costlier for kids to get to school while also potentially creating headaches downtown, where most city bus routes go to allow passenger transfers.
““The implications really are that parents are going to have to find a way to get their kids to high schools,” Greater Dayton RTA Executive Director Mark Donaghy said. “We expect a great deal of that will happen on the RTA regular service.”
Just weeks before the start of the last school year, four partners joined the district to cover the $2 million cost of its RTA contract. The city provided $350,000, Montgomery County gave $350,000 and RTA reduced bus pass prices by $200,000. The county’s job and family services department added $500,000 in social services to free up district money for busing and the district contributed a $600,000 state subsidy it would not have gotten had it not offered high school busing.
None of the parties who stepped up to save high school busing service last summer has offered to make a contribution to keep busing for 2008-09.
“Our budget is tight, but everybody else has some struggles, too,” said Yvonne Isaacs, city school board president.
The district’s contract with the RTA provide free transportation for high school students and provides 39 extra buses on the road when school was in session. Many of those buses follow direct routes that pick kids up from their homes and take them right to school.
Still, Isaacs said she was still searching for a way to keep busing before the Aug. 11 start of school.
“This time last year we were in a similar situation,” she said. “My hope is, like last year, we will find a solution. But we know we have to move fast.”
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