Alabama district to end regular-ed transportation

HOOVER, Ala. — Hoover City Schools will stop regular-education transportation with the 2014-15 school year, the board of education decided on Monday.

District officials expect that ending the service — to go into effect in August 2014 — will save more than $2.5 million per year, which can be redirected into classroom investment and/or deficit reduction.

The change does not affect special-education transportation service.

In a memo to the board about the proposal, Hoover City Schools Superintendent Andy Craig cited declining revenue as a key factor.

"In recent years, there has been considerable negative pressure on many aspects of our financial operating model," Craig wrote. "The continued overall inverse relationship between increasing student enrollment and sharply declining revenues has diluted our funding model and eroded our investment capacity in core teaching and learning."

Since 2008, per-student revenues have decreased from $13,715 to $11,356. The decline equated to an operating revenue loss of $96.8 million over a four-year period.

According to an announcement, the district designated the beginning of the 2014-15 school year for ending transportation service to "allow an extended time for adjustments to be made by parents whose children now ride buses to and from school, as well as ... adequate time for affected transportation employees to obtain employment in another system or explore other employment opportunities."

To read Craig's memo to the school board, click here.

Other recent news on transportation cuts:

• Texas district to stop some summer school bus service