MISSION VIEJO : Parents Angry About School Bus Fee Plan

More than 150 angry parents complained bitterly to Saddleback Valley Unified School District officials Monday when a proposal to raise the cost of annual bus passes from $150 to $365 per student was discussed.

The Board of Education unofficially endorsed the fee hike last month in order to save $600,000 and make the district’s busing program self-supporting. The district faces a projected $3.2-million shortfall in next year’s $109-million budget.

“It’s a very, very difficult situation, and we are quite aware of the impact this is going to have on parents,” Robert Cornelius, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, said to the parents at the emotional public hearing. “Anyone who deals with your children could not be more unhappy with the circumstances. We are stretched to the limit.”

Still, many of the parents called the proposed increase “unreasonable” and said it was more than they could afford. Others said that charging for busing was unfair because district boundary configurations force them to bus their children to schools across town.

“I think most people would stand for a reasonable increase,” said parent Dan Freeman. “But a 114% increase is too much for a lot of people to handle. That’s a lot of dough.”

“I cannot afford this outrageous increase during these difficult financial times,” parent Sherry Mark said tearfully. “The housing tract where I live is five miles away from my child’s school, and I pass three elementary schools which are closer to my house. I think new boundaries should be considered.”

District officials said that some students must be bused to avoid overcrowding at some schools and underenrollment at others.

“Over the years, the district has tried to place students in the school nearest to their neighborhood that has room,” Cornelius said. “There is busing so we don’t have to buy additional buildings for a campus and can use the facilities that we have.”

In addition to complaints about the cost increase and boundaries, the parents criticized the trustees for not attending the hearing and also said the district did a poor job of notifying them about the special meeting.

“The letters were handed out to children on the buses so a lot of them didn’t arrive home,” said parent Bill Winn. “I picked mine up in the gutter on my way home from work and saw about 20 to 30 letters trashed in the parking lot of the school. We also only received the letter last week, and that’s not sufficient time.”

The district sent about 4,500 notices advertising the hearing home with students who currently ride the bus, said Tom Tullar, director of business services. “There was not an attempt to sneak anything through,” Tullar said.

A final decision on the busing fees will be made in June when trustees adopt the district’s 1992-93 budget.