Proposals Would Put More Kids on the Bus

By Karen Johnson, Seattle Times

Feb. 10–The Kent School Board is studying four options in a district proposal to decrease the distance some students walk to school.

In the Kent School District, elementary students can ride the school bus only if they live more than 1.3 miles from their school. For middle- and high-school students, the distance is greater.

Parents complained to the district in the fall, saying its rules require students — especially the youngest — to walk too far to school.

In October, School Board members asked district transportation officials to research how much it would cost to revise the transportation policy. The policy hasn’t been updated in more than 30 years.

Last month, School Board members got an early look at a study that evaluated how much it would cost to bus more students to school. Early figures range from $360,000 to nearly $2 million.

Board members say they will have to carefully weigh any proposed changes against community support and costs.

“I’m supportive of addressing this issue,” board member Chris Davies said last month. “But I am cautious financially.”

An outdated system

When Kent School District created its current transportation policies in the 1970s, many of its schools were in rural areas. Critics say the rules have not kept pace with the fast-developing community.

Students in Kent schools generally walk farther than those in other nearby districts. Kent students walk up to 2 miles each way; those in Renton, Tahoma, Federal Way and Tacoma walk if they live within a mile of school.

The district’s transportation policy, while stricter than some neighboring districts, meets state standards. The goal of the transportation proposals is to cut the distance all students walk, particularly in elementary and middle school.

“Conditions have changed,” said Fred High, assistant superintendent of business services for the Kent School District. “Our roads are busier than ever, and we have far more students, greater density and people.”

It’s the first time School Board members have taken a serious look at changing its walking boundaries, quite a task in a district that covers 73 square miles.

The board says making a decision could take months. But if it chose to expand the program for next school year, the district would need to order buses next month.

During a recent meeting, the board shot down an option that would have rearranged school start times to accommodate more bus routes.

Costlier options that focused on adding buses to the district’s fleet seemed to get stronger support from the board. But members said they were concerned about paying millions of dollars to run and maintain more buses.

Before decisions are made, transportation supervisor Don Walkup said the district will need a “clear understanding of the cost implications.”

Board members have asked transportation officials to provide more detailed cost analyses for the largest of the four proposals — a $2 million option that would require the district to buy 12 more buses.

Rising transportation costs and driver shortages will play a major role in whatever policy the district chooses to adopt.

Driver shortage

None of the proposed options would provide bus service for students who live a mile or less from school.

For several years, Kent, like most area districts, has faced a shortage of drivers, Walkup said. It currently needs about 25 more drivers and often relies on office staff and shop personnel who are certified to drive buses.

If the School Board passed a policy that required the district to hire more drivers, Walkup said, the district would have a tough time finding them.

“We’d have to recruit, advertise, attend job fairs and send fliers home to parents,” he said.

Expanding transportation likely would take money from other programs.

“Is this really the No. 1 priority in the district?” Superintendent Barbara Grohe asked at the Jan. 23 board meeting. “We’ll have to cut into other areas to make this happen.”

Safety concerns

Expanding the district’s transportation policy also could benefit students from neighborhoods where traffic safety is a concern, parents say.

At Ridgewood and Fairwood elementaries in the Fairwood neighborhood, many students walk along busy Southeast Petrovitsky Road.

In 2005, parents from The Parks neighborhood, whose children attend Ridgewood, told Board Members they were concerned about safety because their children had to walk along busy Petrovitsky, which has a 40 mph speed limit — but where drivers often go much faster. They asked if they could pay for bus service for their children.

The district said it could not allow parents to pay for bus service, but the board urged parents to have their kids use a designated walkway along Petrovitsky.

Laura Anson, a Boeing software designer, says she is lucky to be able to start work later so she can walk her children — daughter Kennedy, 11, and son Jake, 8 — to school at Ridgewood.

“I am one of the lucky ones,” Anson said. “Some people don’t have the ability to rearrange their schedules.”

Kent does not have a designated safe-walking program. The Auburn School District has invested tens of thousands of dollars to make walking safer for students, and it buses those in areas where the walk is considered unsafe.

Ridgewood parent Michael Hoiland said he hopes the district will factor safety concerns into any plan they adopt.

“I understand that a school district needs to cut costs with so many rising gas and transportation costs, but safety should be their main concern,” Hoiland said.

Busing options

Kent School Board is considering changes to its transportation policy. In October, the board asked transportation officials to study how much it would cost to reduce elementary walking boundaries from 1.34 miles to 1 mile; middle-school boundaries from 1.75 to 1.5 miles, and high-school boundaries from 2 miles to 1.75 miles. Here’s a look at the four options:

A. Full adoption (all schools): This is the most expensive option, at a cost of $1.97 million. It calls for adding 12 buses ($1.32 million) and drivers, operations and maintenance staff ($650,000). About 1,400 more students could be bused. The state would pay $100,000 to transport students who live more than a mile from school.

B. Partial adoption (elementary schools): This $1.7 million option would add 10 buses ($1.1 million) and drivers, operations and maintenance staff ($600,000). It would allow 672 more students to ride buses. It is ineligible for state money because it would affect only elementary students whose transportation is already subsidized.

C. Partial adoption (elementary and middle schools): This $1.97 million option, like option A, would require 12 more buses ($1.32 million) and drivers, operations and maintenance staff ($650,000). It would allow 944 more students to ride the bus. The district would get $80,000 from the state because the plan would not include high-school students.

D. Full adoption with changed middle-school start times: This option would cost the least ($360,000). It would add two buses ($220,000) and operations and maintenance staff ($140,000) and provide buses for 1,400 more students. The district would get $100,000 from the state. It would be the most disruptive to school schedules. Elementary students would start earlier; middle-school students, later.

Source: Kent School District

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