There could be some major changes coming in the next school year for hundreds of kids who ride the school bus in Polk County.
District officials are considering eliminating school bus service for most charter school students and any kids who live within two miles of their schools.
Parents are worried, but district officials, presenting the option to school board members Thursday, say may have no other choice.
If they do eliminate busing within two miles of schools, Cynthia Cavanagh says her two granddaughters could have to walk more than a mile every day from her house in Wellington Green -- on roads with no sidewalks and no lights.
“And they could get hit by a car, you know?” said Cavanaugh, “And (traffic goes) fast up and down the street.”
Polk County school officials say they sympathize, but because of budget cuts from Tallahassee and a shortage of qualified drivers, they’ve run out of options. They need to run fewer buses and save more money.
One of the options is to eliminate school bus service for the county’s charter schools. While many run their own buses, others don’t. About 90 Polk school buses are used every day to transport an estimated 350 charter school students.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen ... if this many people are against it,” said Corinna Deweese, calling it a bad idea. “Some kids won’t even have a way to get to school.”
District officials say it is happening. And they don’t need even need board approval to do it.
At a workshop earlier in the week, the district’s transportation team suggested eliminating all busing not required by law. In addition to the 350 students who attend various charter schools that don’t have their own buses, another 1,100 students who live closer than two miles from their schools would also see their courtesy bus service eliminated.
“It may also allow us to reduce the number of school bus driver positions for a cost savings,” a transportation official told the board, “Or it may reduce the number of bus driver positions that we may need in the future.”
There would be exceptions for children with special needs.
The school board also says it’s willing to work with charter schools to sell them surplus buses at a discount and work with various agencies to address safety concerns.
“They can help provide the construction of sidewalks, furnishing crossing guards, furnishing student crosswalks and increasing law enforcement to enhance the safety of the students who may use pedestrian rides to and from school each day,” board members were told.
The school district is also working with Polk County’s public transportation system to see if they can find solutions that would help children who would no longer be provided school buses.
Nothing has been written in stone yet, but if any changes are made, the district says it will notify those parents affected before the 2019 school year begins.
The bottom line, say school officials, is the bottom line: An estimated $130,000 savings. And a more efficient bus schedule for those students who the district is legally required to transport.
Still, some caregivers like Cavanaugh question whether that amount is really worth the risk.
“It’s hard to put a price tag,” said Cavanaugh, “on somebody’s life.”
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