Board approves cutting one bus route after Dman study, cites small near-term savings and larger contract concerns

The Wilmot UHS School District board voted to reduce its 2024–25 bus routes from 11 to 10 after hearing ridership and cost analysis from Dman Transportation.

Larry Kirkley, president of Dman Transportation Company, told the board much of the district's assigned ridership does not actually board buses, and that redistributing roughly 32 students across three other buses would allow the district to eliminate one route while adding only an additional stop or two. "We could take you from 11 bus routes to 10," Kirkley said, noting the change would add roughly 10–15 minutes to one morning route but would not require any students to be picked up earlier than the district's earliest current pickup times.

Kirkley also outlined industrywide cost pressures, saying some contracts have risen as much as 45% in recent renewals in other districts. He urged the board to consider longer-term options such as multi-district (tiered) routing or consortium arrangements to limit future price growth, a strategy that could require coordination on bell times and reduce districts' independent control over routing.

Board members pressed for details on student walk distances, contingency plans if a bus must be sent back to a route, and whether different morning and afternoon route counts had been considered. Dman said the current maximum walk-to-stop distance is 0.8 miles and that a different morning/afternoon configuration is possible but would require further analysis. The provider estimated the annual savings from dropping one route at about $4,286.18 based on the figures presented.

After discussion the board moved and approved the 2024–25 bus-route reduction as presented. No roll-call vote tally was recorded in the transcript; the motion was announced to have carried.