Board expands high‑school bus eligibility to 2 miles, approves cluster stops amid driver shortage

The Marysville Exempted Village School District board approved a change to high‑school transportation eligibility on a vote at the June meeting, expanding the minimum walk‑to‑school distance from 1.5 miles to 2.0 miles for grades 9–12 and authorizing a set of clustered pickup locations intended to reduce route complexity amid a persistent driver shortage.

Todd Amos, the district’s transportation director, told the board driver availability has been the program’s central problem: “We have 35 everyday drivers including van drivers,” Amos said, and added that the district needs roughly 28–30 regular‑education drivers plus seven special‑education drivers to meet normal demand. Amos said training and hiring efforts have produced new hires but turnover remains high; the department was training three drivers over the summer and reported recent hires lost to higher‑paying full‑time jobs.

To reduce the number of in‑town stops and improve predictability, Amos proposed expanding the high‑school eligibility zone and creating four high‑school cluster stops: Mill Valley Pool Lot, Navin Elementary, the Alger Park (south Walnut) entrance, and the Aldersgate park/pickleball area at Palm Drive and Emmaus. Amos said the cluster stops would be serviced early in the morning and dropped first in the afternoon to reduce the risk that trains, accidents or construction would delay routes later in the schedule.

Under the change approved by the board, high‑school students who live within two miles of their assigned high school would not be eligible for regular busing. The district started an opt‑in program for next year’s grades 9–12 and had reported roughly 736 initial sign‑ups before deduplication (approximately 636 unique students) at the time of the presentation. The opt‑in window was scheduled to close June 20, and staff said finalized route assignments and cluster‑stop times would be sent to families in July.

Board members and staff emphasized the state does not require districts to provide high‑school transportation; Amos said the proposed change is designed to protect service tiers below high school and to improve reliability when the district has short‑term absences or long‑term leaves among drivers. “The state does not require transportation for high school students,” Amos said.

The board adopted a resolution to modify the transportation eligibility standard effective for the 2025–26 school year. The written motion directs staff to implement the cluster stops and proceed with route changes and family notifications; the board also asked staff to continue recruitment and said it will revisit the policy if staffing improves.

Why this matters: the change reduces the number of individual in‑town stops for high school routes and is designed to stabilize routing so existing drivers can more reliably complete multiple tiers (high school, middle, elementary) each day. The move shifts some commuting responsibility back to families in affected areas; staff said they will continue recruitment and consider returning to broader service if driver levels improve.

Key numbers and clarifications provided at the meeting: the transportation office reported 35 everyday drivers (including vans), an immediate need for 28–30 regular drivers and 7 special‑needs drivers, and opt‑in figures of about 736 entries (roughly 636 unique high‑school riders after deduplication). Amos gave sample cluster‑stop counts — for example, Mill Valley’s area included approximately 227 eligible high‑school students — to illustrate load expectations, and staff said they will refine final bus counts using the opt‑in roster.

Sources: remarks and data from Todd Amos and Ryan Walker (district transportation and operations staff), and the board’s adopted resolution.