I am a parent in Academy School District 20 and took the opportunity to attend the October 20 meeting at D20's Admin building regarding possibly implementing a transportation fee for bus riders. A proposal was presented and then parents, students, community members were permitted to make public comment. Here are some of the arguments that were presented and my opinions... yes my opinions, not those of the administration, parents, students, residents of D20 or the opinion of Boylan & Company Real Estate and it's management (I hope that was enough of a disclaimer).

Proposal:

1. Non-choice in neighborhood school students $.50 / ride ($5.00/week for round-trip transportation)
2. Choice in District 20 $.60 / ride
3. Choice out-of-district $.70 / ride
4. Students only charged for rides that actually take.
5. This will save the district about $500,000/year in the first year and $700,000 in subsequent 2 years. (This is a small percentage of the total transportation budget. $6million total budget, we receive $4million from the state. Savings will then be 1/8 to 1/6 of the annual budget)

Arguments of those in favor:

1. Colorado does not require transportation to public school. Nominal fee can divert some of the expense.
2. The District, like everyone, has been impacted by the slight downturn in the economy, and the reduced property taxes based on reduced property values means less money coming in. School districts here and all over are having to find ways to make cuts; better to make them in transportation than in the classroom.
3. District advertises that 'choice' students get NO transportation, and then offer those students transportation from school to school. Choice students should pay fee.
4. Transportation reports only 10% reduction in ridership.
5. If IEP plan requires transportation or income qualifications, they will not require fee.
6. One dad, "Only a nominal fee to take my student across town to Air Academy, sign me up." (altered, not word-for-word quote).

Arguments of those in opposition:

1. Fees should not be charged to students going to their neighborhood school.
2. Estimated 10% reduced ridership could be inaccurate.  This will cause excessive additional crowding during drop-off and pick-up times.
3. If increased walkers, will district staff more crosswalks?
4. Details and expense of tracking ridership need to be worked out.
5. New 'walkers' become targets to potential predators as a result of routine walking routes to school.
6. Rising costs at school (sports, meals, activities, classroom needs) not met by school budgets are already coming out of parents' pockets. This is added weekly expense.
7. Some buses to sport competitions only drop off students and head back to schools; leaving a vacant bus heading back to district. Parents then wasting gas, time, money and adding impact on the environment because of additional drivers. Especially obvious in those schools emphasizing importance of the environment, recycling, and our "footprint" on the earth.
8. Reduced housing values.
9. Is this temporary? If the economy picks back up, will the district eliminate the fee, parent opinion is no.

Additional comments:

1. Transportation please REALLY evaluate rates, examples notes of wasted time, buses, drivers, etc.  Also, really evaluate transport for special needs (i.e. large bus with 1-5 students on board)
2. Expectations from some parents on schools to staff from 5am-6pm to accommodate dual working-parent families (particularly military).

Now begins my commentary and arguments why my family would be for or against the fee and/or the structure:

1. We live in district and choice to a school which is not our neighborhood school. The district indicates we do not get transportation. Then transportation is offered. I expect to pay a fee and am willing to, to divert child care expenses and transportation expenses of our own.
2. MOST families in our district are relatively well-off (I hope that's not a terrible term). We are all being pulled in new directions financially, along with our wonderful local school district. The fees to send a student on the bus each week could be equal to about 1 gourmet cup of coffee. I think we all have that in our budget.
3. My income is down as a real estate professional in a slightly down economy, and I am willing to pay it.
4. I think in-neighborhood students should have a drastically reduced fee and choice student should have an increased fee (yes, that includes me); something like $.25 for in-neighborhood ($2.50/week, like the change on your nightstand) and $75 for choice (doesn't matter if they are in or out of district, they have to get to a D20 school and go from there).
5. Transportation fees alone cannot be blamed for reduced housing values, I think that is a false and impossible to track claim. D49 may have some decreased housing values, but that cannot be tracked directly to the fee they now assess to their riders. Again, the economic downturn has lead to decreased values since 2006, and especially since 2008; short sales and foreclosures bringing down values for years... before D49 added transportation fee.
6. I sold a $350,000 house in just 8 days for only $5000 less than list price in D49 / Woodmen Hills. Things are not as doom-and-gloom as some television financial "experts" and real estate professionals want to make them out to be.
7. We make lots of choices as adults & parents. We chose to have children, and therefore have to feed them. If costs in the cafeterias have gone up, how can we expect our costs not to go up.
8. We choose to enroll them in sports and other extra-curricular activities. If the district increases their expenses, they have to pass the cost on to parents.
9. Income evaluations can be made to 'excuse' students from the fee.
10. Adding up to (one parent estimated) $2500 for a student's 12-13 year school career, is just a minimal fee in my opinion.
11. This may affect home buyers coming to the area, however I think if District 20 continues to remain a top-notch district in it's excellent teachers, activities, etc, the transportation fee will be so minimal to incoming buyers' decisions. District 49 has had crowding & budget issues for at least 8 years; these districts are very different in their overall make-up and conditions (rural, military, economic, etc.).
12. We evaluate frequently my commission income, working and paying for child care. Like I said earlier we ALL make decisions every day that affect ourselves and our children. We cannot expect the public school system to go beyond that and provide child care for our student from 5/6am-5/6pm; that is simply not the schools' responsibility. We are their parents.
13. Colorado does not require transportation to public schools.

I hope this was helpful to those who were unable to make the meeting. There was a lot of opposition, but I think people accepting of the fee don't often attend meetings such as this. I hope my opinions don't offend anyone. If they do, I reiterate they are solely my opinions, not that of the district, many parents, or my office.

More to come, as always, when we hear more from the district...