Whittier : Busing Co-Op Supported

The Whittier City School District board has voted 4-1 to stay in the Pupil Transportation Cooperative for at least another year, setting aside a recommendation to withdraw by district Business Manager Connie Fong. She said the board could save at least $62,000 a year and improve service by operating its own school bus system.

Supt. Neal J. Avery told board members that the transportation cooperative has recently corrected many scheduling and routing problems, and that others were endemic to the peculiar needs of the district, which buses students from school to school to alleviate pupil crowding.

Moments before the board voted, Avery recommended giving the cooperative another year. Avery and others noted that the district will be busing entire student bodies to alternative sites next year, during an extensive remodeling program, which could put a strain on an independent system.

Increased costs to member districts and driver layoffs could have resulted had Whittier City approved Fong’s proposal, said Virginia A. Barnes, director of the transportation cooperative.

The Pupil Transportation Cooperative is a joint-powers authority, governed by the business managers of the six member districts, including Fong. When the cooperative was formed, each of the six member districts agreed to participate for a three-year period that ends June, 1987.