Late school bus ended to save money

The Vernon Township School District eliminated the late bus last week to save money.

At the Board of Education’s March 9 work session, Superintendent Russell Rogers had said the district’s transportation budget was $300,000 over budget because of increased costs.

To plug the gap, officials looked at ending the 5:30 p.m. bus along with reducing sports programs or creating a “pay to play” system for district sports.

Rogers said the district counted students taking the 5:30 p.m. bus during two weeks in November and two in February and found that 25 students had taken the bus. About six students were riding a bus that holds 54 at any one time.

“Given the circumstances, eliminating the 5:30 bus was a way to maintain our sports and programs at the school,” he said. “We looked at a ‘pay to play’ option and ruled out this idea.”

Parents protesting the move for about an hour during the meeting. It is not expected to return in 2023-24.

“There may only be six kids on there, but there are six very important kids who are going to lose out on some memories,” parent Gene Arnold said. “It’s a very challenging position. I don’t know where the money would come from.”

The 5:30 p.m. bus costs the district about $92,000 a year. Ending it now will save about $30,000. The other late bus, at 3:30 p.m., was abolished in 2019 as a cost-saving measure.

Emily Franek, a student at the high school, started a petition to reinstate the buses on Change.org. It had 1,022 signatures as of the afternoon of March 11.

Franek wrote that with no late buses, athletes who do not have a ride may have to drop out of sports and after-school clubs and activities may lose participants.

She also objected to the minimal notice provided to the school community; the message went out about March 3, giving parents only about a week to find other arrangements.

Justin Annunziata, chairman of the Board of Education’s Finance Committee said the district’s budget is about $70 million and the district is in the sixth year of a $10 million state-aid cut.

During the pandemic, the district saved some money because buildings were closed, but the district isn’t allowed to keep surplus funds beyond the next school year. The only savings a district can have is in its capital reserve, which is used for capital projects.

“So before anybody says why weren’t we saving money all these years when we were overfunded, we weren’t allowed to,” he said. “Anybody who tells you otherwise doesn’t have a clear understanding of school budgets and school finances.”

Board member Joseph Sweeney said he has six children who went through the district and while his family used the late buses, it is not money spent wisely.

Business Administrator Patricia Radcliffe-Lee said the district’s proposed budget caries a tax levy of 1.785 percent, the maximum allowed. It can’t go up to 2 percent because it had health-benefits savings.

“It’s hard not having the money you need to run the programs that you would like to run for all students,” the superintendent said. “We’re making some very tough decisions. We apologize for cutting the 5:30 bus, but there are other decisions that I wouldn’t want to make instead of doing that.”