District looks at alternatives to eliminating high school buses

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Members of the Ann Arbor Public Schools board were presented last Friday with several alternatives to eliminating school bus transportation for high school students.

The other options to achieve the $1.482 million in savings that would come from eliminating the service include enforcing an existing board policy requiring a half-mile walk zone between bus stops, according to a story on AnnArbor.com. This would save the district approximately $500,000.

Interim Superintendent Robert Allen told the news source that district officials were not aware that the walk zone policy was not being enforced. He made that the top recommendation to the board.

Other solutions include eliminating noon-hour transportation, which would mean kindergarteners who attend school in the morning would not be brought home and afternoon kindergarteners would not be brought to school. This would save $400,000.

Moreover, widening the walk zone around school buildings from one and a half to two miles would save $800,000 and having a single, common bus stop for a large area rather than several stops in that area would save $670,000, including fuel.

No final decisions to include any of the proposals in the proposed budget were made on Friday. Board members will vote on the budget on Wednesday, according to the story.