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Parents and residents urge board to abandon $849 pay-to-ride bus fee; district staff explains calculation
Summary
Multiple public commenters criticized a proposed $849 per-student pay-to-ride fee as unfair to families and inconsistent with local practice; a district staffer said the figure was derived by dividing the transportation budget by ridership and reflected a per-rider cost from last year.
Multiple Hartland-Lakeside residents urged the school board to reconsider a proposed $849-per-student "pay-to-ride" bus fee, saying it would punish families, create inequities for households with more than one child and push parents to find alternative transportation.
"That same bus goes from one school to the other school, but because she is younger, I have to pay $849 for her to ride the bus," said Justin S., a parent who addressed the board during the public-comment period. "By charging this astronomical number, I think you're pushing people away from this."
Lisa Richter, who said her family has multi-generational ties to the community, told the board that the district's history of neighborhood-school shifts prompted earlier busing programs and that the community perspective was missing from recent discussions. "I felt like no one was weighing the interests of our community members," she said. Peggy Kellenburger added a neighborhood example: "I can just see that kid on the porch… why would a community do this?"
Board members asked staff to explain how the $849 figure was calculated. Peter, a district staff member, told the board: "The 849 is simply our transportation budget divided by ridership. It looks at the cost of providing buses and says we have X number of students riding those buses; that is we pay $8.49 to move each student from their home to the school," and he said the district used the last full year's numbers for the calculation.
Several public commenters and board members said that calculation feels punitive because the bus exists and runs regardless of seat-by-seat variation; parents argued a smaller fee or a family cap would be more equitable. Board members asked administrators to continue exploring options, to provide clearer outreach about the calculation and to consider financial aid or scholarships for families who cannot afford the cost.
No formal action on the fee was taken at the meeting; the board and administration indicated additional communications and possible refinements would follow before implementation.
The board moved on to other agenda items after the public-comment period, including presentations and votes on travel and personnel matters.
