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Families, principals and bus contractors warn against cutting Hamilton County magnet transportation
Summary
Students, parents, principals and a private bus contractor told the school board that eliminating magnet bus service would reduce access, create safety problems and threaten contractors’ businesses; a contractor said buses purchased recently cost six figures each.
Parents, students, principals and a private contractor told the Hamilton County Board of Education at the April 28 work session that magnet transportation is essential to access, equity and student safety and should not be cut as the district weighs budget savings.
Lauren Sloan, a parent with three children in magnet schools, told the board that magnet transportation “is not a luxury, it's an essential. It protects students' safety, it enables real choice, and it prevents our schools from resegregating by race, income, and neighborhood.” Sloan said removing buses would make attendance and after‑school participation impractical for many families.
Students from magnet schools described how buses make their participation possible. Mabry Connor, a sixth grader at Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts (CCA), said buses are often the only reliable way students can reach schools with specialized programs and extracurriculars.
Greg Wilkie, principal at Eastside Elementary and president of the Kelly Principal Association, urged the board to “protect what matters most” — “student-facing and building-level positions” and the services that enable choice.
Blake Williams, an independent bus contractor who said he owns and operates ten routes including magnet routes, warned that contractors have made large personal investments and would face financial ruin if routes are cut. Williams said he has spent approximately $1,400,000 on buses and related equipment, paid $133,258 for a 90‑passenger bus purchased in February 2022 and has a bus on order priced at $218,000.
Williams said sharp increases in vehicle costs and the dependence of families on magnet routes mean service reductions could force families back to zone schools, increase overcrowding, and end routes run by independent operators.
Ending: Speakers asked the board to preserve magnet transportation to avoid narrowing access to specialized programs; the board said it would hold a listening session April 29 to gather additional input before making budget decisions.
