Corona Trustees Delay Plan to Levy School Bus Fees

The Board of Education voted 3 to 1 Tuesday to postpone its plan to charge fees that would average $90 annually for each student who rides the bus to school.

The fees, approved by the board last year to help cover the cost of transportation, were supposed to go into effect in September.

But school district administrators failed to send information about the fees to parents before the school year ended, as required by law, said Karen E. Stein, the board member who proposed postponing the fees for a year.

“We still need that money,” even though “the district has missed its deadline,” trustee Terry A. Young said.

Young cast the only vote against Stein’s motion. Member Charles H. Carter was absent.

In other action, the board put off a decision on a controversial plan to phase out its transportation department and replace it with a private contractor. The district’s business staff estimates that the move could save as much as $500,000 annually.

School bus drivers, who have offered to help cut costs in other ways, oppose the plan.