Student Busing Rolls Stay Steady

Student participation in the voluntary busing programs of the San Diego Unified School District--the main pillars of its integration effort--continues to remain steady despite budget cuts, uncertainty over bus transportation, and continued criticism over the quality of public education.

Figures given to the board of education Tuesday show that the number of students--almost all minority--who board buses to attend schools in predominantly white areas of the city under the so-called Veep program is 8,064, about 600 more during the first month of school than in April of the past school year.

The number of white students who choose to bus to special magnet enrichment programs in predominantly minority-area schools is 4,478, slightly below the 4,506 in April of the past year. The numbers increased slightly at the elementary school level but dropped at the secondary level.

Christina Baca, Veep program director, said some majority schools are doing a better job of selling their programs to parents of minority students than other schools. She particularly credited Cubberley Elementary School in Mission Village and Torrey Pines Elementary in La Jolla.

Baca also cautioned that other district educational goals do not always mesh smoothly with the two major integration programs. She pointed out that Henry High School has lost almost 100 minority students, who previously chose to bus across town, to a rejuvenated Lincoln High School in southeast San Diego. The predominantly minority Lincoln has been the object of a major district effort to boost its academic offerings and attract students who otherwise would join the Veep program in the belief that majority-area schools offer better education.

In related issues at the board meeting Tuesday, a majority of the board indicated it would vote next week against a pilot program to limit bus service for students in the Veep and magnet programs. Proponents of a limited express-bus program have argued that the district spends too much money on transportation--$19 million a year--that could be used instead for classroom instruction. But opponents say that student participation in the integration programs would drop if access to buses is made more difficult in an effort to save $50,000 a year.