Spokane7
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September 14, 2011 in Idaho
Bus cuts hit the farther flung
Consolidation affects 42 families on three rural routes in district
Michelle Parkin picks up her son Nicholas Pelz, 7, from the bus stop at the intersection of Wolf Lodge Creek Road and Alder Creek Road in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday. Budget cuts in the Coeur d’Alene School District have forced the bus service to consolidate someroutes.
(Full-size photo)
Three generations of Michelle Parkin’s family have taken the bus to Coeur d’Alene schools from the same Wolf Lodge area bus stop, until this year.
Cutbacks forced the district to look for savings in its transportation budget and three rural bus routes were trimmed – in Wolf Lodge, the north side of Hayden Lake and Cougar Gulch – with service consolidated in those areas.
That means Parkin and her parents have been taking turns making four trips daily to the new bus stop to pick up her second-grade son, Nicholas, and her sixth-grade daughter, Katalina. Because they attend different schools, they ride different buses. The old bus stop was close enough for the children to walk home safely.
“Luckily, my parents live nearby,” said Parkin, who works in Coeur d’Alene. “If they weren’t there, I don’t know what we’d do.”
District officials began discussing more than a year ago ways to cut transportation costs due to budget shortfalls. In the past two years, said Jill Hill, the district’s transportation director, the state Legislature has cut the transportation budget by 20 percent – from about $2 million to $1.6 million.
By consolidating the bus routes, the district was able to save $93,000 annually, said Steve Briggs, chief financial officer. Some 42 families were affected by the change. The school board voted to make the change June 6.
State law requires that transportation be provided to students who live more than a mile and a half from school, Hill said. So families who live farther than that from the consolidated bus stops are reimbursed 45 cents a mile to get their children there, Briggs said.
“I just don’t want the parents to feel like we’re throwing them under the bus, if you will,” Hill said. “It’s a tough decision and it impacts them, and we get that. If I had a bus to pick up every kid, I would.”
But she added, “We have to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and still try to provide the best service we can within our means. These outlying areas, we care about these guys as much as anybody else, but when you’re doing budget cuts, you try to find an area that impacts the least amount of people.”
The district has always had areas not served by buses for one reason or another. Of the district’s 10,000 students, about 4,000 are transported daily. Others walk or drive to school, ride their bikes or are driven by parents.
But this change is the widest ranging and hits the largest number of families, Briggs said.
“It’s something we did not take lightly,” he said. “It’s something we would have preferred not to have to do.” However, he added, “Circumstances led us in that area because the number of students affected is relatively few and the dollars savings are large.”
Two Fernwood residents dead after Monday accident 
slamdunk on September 14 at 1:09 p.m.
This is what happens when you elect a politician to a non-partisan position ..meaning good ole Tom Luna. Cut schools and beef up big business through expenditure of taxpayer dollars on ridiculous technology mandates. Way to go Tom (and Butcho)!
bpackley on September 15 at 7:26 a.m.
Here is an idea Jill Hill, why don’t you consolidate these students that go to different schools and take different buses onto one bus! Have a convent transfer point (if you will) and put all the outlying kids on one bus! If there is an issue with high school students being on the same bus with kindergarten students, put a para professional on the bus! That way, you don’t have to reimburse the parents $.45 per mile. How much does it cost to have an employee keep track of the submitted paperwork and cut checks? Cutting a check costs money: ink, paper, mail service, and the time it takes for someone to input the info on the check! Jill Hill and Hazel Bauman really need to start thinking outside the box!