Districts Combining Bus Routes

More than 2,000 North Spokane elementary tykes will be riding with older secondary students next fall as the Riverside and Deer Park school districts combine bus routes.

The two districts are ending separate bus pick-ups for elementary and secondary students in response to tighter transportation budgets.

“We were looking for ways to save money,” said Deer Park business manager Wayne Leonard.

That means later starting times for high school students and earlier bells for the younger students. Schools will start between 8 and 8:30 a.m.

A committee in Deer Park studied the proposal for at least six months and administrators in Riverside prepared a thick report. They found no discipline problems in districts which run single-bus routes.

“One thing we were worried about was that the older kids would be picking on the younger kids,” said Deer Park’s Phil Bray, father of four students. “The parents and the teachers and bus drivers (in districts with single-routing) told us the buses are more calm with the older kids on them.

“From what I see, it looked like the best option for the school district,” he added. “I don’t think there’s too much concern.”

Riverside Superintendent Jerry Wilson agrees. “The feeling there (in other districts) is that middle school kids are monitored more by the high school kids.”

To be on top of potential discipline problems and ease parents’ fears, Deer Park is buying more surveillance cameras for buses and tightening its discipline policy. Riverside is not making changes, according to Wilson.

Deer Park expects to save about $40,000 a year. Riverside, one of the state’s largest districts geographically, expects to save about twice that amount.

Those savings are coming partly at the expense of bus drivers, who expect to lose about 25 percent of their pay. Riverside’s union protested the district’s plan, resulting in a seven-month stalemate in contract negotiations.

Both districts have discussed hiring the drivers for other jobs, such as landscaping. Senior drivers will be given first shot at picking up extra runs. “That will give them the opportunity to make up some of the money they lost,” said Deer Park Superintendent Glenys Hill.

But the single-routing plans calls for more buses to be on the roads at once, causing the need for larger fleets. Riverside is still pondering subcontracting bus services to a private contractor like Laidlaw.

Deer Park is in the market for new or used buses. New buses cost about $60,000, used about $12,000. The district plans to inspect potential purchases carefully to see if they can stand up to the abuse of adolescents and potholes.

“They just got the tar beat out of them at 50 miles an hour over these beat-up county roads,” said Deer Park’s Leonard.

, DataTimes