ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Faced with declining funding for education in Michigan, one school district has decided to eliminate transportation for general-education students.

The change at the School District of the City of Royal Oak, a suburb north of Detroit, will go into effect with the 2010-11 school year. The district has about 1,800 general-education students.

Last year, Royal Oak made substantial reductions in high school transportation, but further cuts were needed, officials said.

“As the condition of state school finances rapidly deteriorated this year and the projected shortfalls for next year grew substantially, the district was faced with stark and unpleasant choices,” said G. Anders Linell, executive director of Royal Oak’s business/technology office, in a letter to parents.

The district had to make significant budget cuts, Linell said, and “the size of these reductions required a choice, either fundamental changes in the amount of support service and how they are delivered, or reduction, elimination or alteration of the core instructional programs and services which the Royal Oak community has come to expect.”

The district said it would work with PTAs to develop parent resources for ride sharing and connecting students to walk or ride bikes to school together.