SFUSD proposes to cut five yellow buses, reshape routes and notify families before enrollment fair

SAN FRANCISCO — District staff told the Board of Education on Oct. 23 that the San Francisco Unified School District must shrink its general-education yellow-bus fleet by five vehicles to align transportation costs with available funding and reimbursement.

"We need to reduce the fleet by 5 buses from 30 buses to 25 in the twelve-thirteen in the thirteen-fourteen school year," Executive Director Orla O'Keefe said during a presentation laying out budget drivers, feeder alignment and next steps. She said the change is driven by limited state categorical and Title I funds and some DCYF support.

Why it matters: staff and several board members framed the cuts as a tradeoff between keeping dollars in classrooms and providing transportation. The district reported a drop in elementary ridership from about 3,300 in 2010—2011 to about 1,600 in the current year, and said it has prioritized aligning services to middle-school feeder patterns while avoiding disruptive bell-time changes.

What the staff recommended: O'Keefe named specific service changes under the proposal for 2013—2014. Staff recommended reducing services to Aptos and Hoover and eliminating services to ER Taylor, Lao and New Traditions. She said students with Individualized Education Program (IEP) transportation needs would not be affected.

Estimated impacts and outreach: O'Keefe estimated the Mission-area-to-Aptos route currently serves about 56—57 middle-school riders and said the Bayview-to-Hoover route carries about 27 afternoon riders at peak. She told the board staff will release school-by-school information in time for the Nov. 3 enrollment fair and will send letters, FAQs and multilingual materials (English, Spanish, Chinese) to families over the next three weeks.

Board questions and concerns: commissioners pressed staff for more granular data, including how many students ride each route, whether buses are full, and the consequences for after-school programs and privately run providers that receive district busing. Commissioner Maras and others asked the staff to produce a school-by-school breakdown and to clarify CTIP categories used in the packet (CTIP 1 represents areas with the lowest average test scores). Student delegate Wendy Lee asked whether staff had followed up with students losing service and what alternatives exist besides Muni; O'Keefe said the district now has ridership lists and will work directly with affected families.

Next steps: staff said it will gather the requested data, share it with commissioners, and continue a year-long redesign process aimed at keeping 25 buses but improving alignment and equity for the 2014—2015 school year.

The board did not take a formal vote on the redesign at this meeting; the presentation and commissioners— questions concluded the item.