As many Washingtonians know, our state constitution defines public education as the “paramount duty” of state government. But does that include a chauffeur? The answer, essentially, was yes in a 1983 ruling by a state superior court judge. Transporting K-12 students to and from school is included in the mandate.
However, school districts have different standards for transportation programs. Among the most significant of these is defining how far a student must live from school to qualify for a tax-supported bus ride to the school.
This constitutional wiggle room means school transportation programs are subject to periodic review. When you look at some startling numbers in a recent story by The Columbian’s Howard Buck, and remember monumental budget woes confronting school districts these days, it’s obvious that now is the time to consider changes in school bus systems. Innovative and efficiency-driven school board members and district budget writers must recognize that now is not the time to seek sanctuary in the status quo.
Those startling numbers in Buck’s story included a combined 5.59 million miles logged by school buses in the Evergreen, Vancouver and Battle Ground school districts during the 2009-10 school year, and a combined $22.6 million spent by the three districts on school bus programs.
In a March 22 editorial, we focused on one way to change those numbers: Require more students to walk to school. Most local school districts provide bus rides to students who live beyond a half-mile from school. Evergreen officials are considering expanding that distance to seven tenths of a mile, and in this age of soaring obesity rates among young people, that change would be a good one.
A second change to consider is user fees for riding school buses. The Douglas County district near Denver has started charging 50 cents per ride, using small radio frequency tags worn by students instead of cash. That revenue is expected to cover about 20 percent of the actual per-student busing cost. Next school year, the Jefferson County district, also near Denver, will charge $150 per child per year for bus service. East of San Francisco, the Tracy district has for two years charged a dollar per ride or $360 per school year. In Sharon, Mass., busing is free for students living 2 miles or farther from schools, $512 annually for students inside 2 miles. Many parents and politicians likely would equate a bus fee to a tax increase and resist it; others would see a bus fare as a user fee, similar to what is charged in many sports programs. Either way, the change is worth considering.
Another possible change would be greater involvement of the private sector. The Battle Ground school district, for example, contracts with Petermann Northwest for bus service. Putting lucrative school transportation contracts out to competitive bid could significantly reduce costs.
Within the public sector, there’s the strength-in-numbers concept. Kalama, Woodland, Ridgefield and La Center schools collaborate in a bus consortium.
Although those local mileage and budget numbers in Buck’s story are real eye-openers, they actually represent 2.2 percent of the total school budget in Battle Ground, 1.2 percent in Evergreen and 1.1 percent in Vancouver. But as tormented school budget writers are constantly reminded, every dollar counts. School bus systems might be traditional, but that doesn’t mean they have to be entrenched in the status quo.
