Addison SD 4 board ends optional busing for students within 1.5 miles, approves $50 registration fee and announces community events

The Addison SD 4 Board of Education voted Jan. 15 to stop offering optional busing to families whose students live within 1.5 miles at the four schools that previously received the service, and approved the district's 2025–26 registration fees set at $50 per student.

Superintendent Nick Sutton said the district receives state transportation funding only for students who live more than 1.5 miles from school and does not receive revenue to subsidize bussing for shorter distances. "School districts receive revenue from the state for busing that is over 1 and a half miles. They do not receive any revenue for busing that is under 1 and a half miles," Sutton said.

Sutton told the board the district currently offers optional bussing at only some schools and that continuing the limited offering was becoming financially unsustainable. "We are on pace to lose, over $500,000 this year by continuing to offer the optional busing just to the schools that we had been," he said, adding that offering optional bussing districtwide would nearly double that shortfall.

The board also approved the 2025–26 registration fees. Sutton said the fee structure will reduce costs for many families: "It's just going to be $50 per kid. There's not gonna be any athletic fees. There's not gonna be any fees for fine arts." He said more details on the fee changes will be provided by district staff.

District staff noted the Jan. 15 meeting presentation — which included the bussing rationale and data — is available on the district's YouTube channel and that all board meetings are livestreamed. "All of our board meetings are live streamed, so if you're interested in more of the exact numbers, you can go ahead and check that out," a district staff member said.

Administrators also reminded families of upcoming dates: Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be observed with no school; Feb. 14 will be an early release day; the first Addison Community Fine Arts Festival is scheduled Feb. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., free and open to the public with proceeds split between Addison 4 boosters and the Diane Morrill Foundation; and the district's Science Fun Night for kindergarten through 8th-grade students is set for Feb. 27, for which RSVP is required.

Discussion and outcome details

Board members discussed fairness in which schools received optional bussing and the cost pressures on district finances. The board voted to end the optional bussing offering at the four schools that had been receiving it and separately voted to approve the 2025–26 registration fees as described. The transcript and meeting summary did not identify motion sponsors, seconder names, or vote tallies.

Planning and next steps

District staff said they will post more detailed financial data and the presentation video on the district YouTube channel and provide further details about registration fees as they become available.