Downey : School Bus Service May Be Slashed or Eliminated
Downey Unified School District officials may have to reduce or eliminate home-to-school bus service as early as fall, Director of Transportation Robert Weinfurter said.
School board members learned last week that a program in which students are charged to ride buses has failed to bring in an anticipated $80,000 because many students cannot afford the fare.
So far, parents of the 900 elementary and special education students who use the buses have paid about $25,000, and district officials predict that the total for the fiscal year will be $35,000.
Prices for home-to-school transportation range from $15 for a book of 10 tickets to $180 for the entire year.
Only elementary students and special education students are riding the 20 buses that go to 20 of the district’s 21 schools. Middle school and high school students do not depend on district transportation.
The district ran a similar fleet from 1982 to 1988, but only 20% of the riders qualified for free rides, and the system broke even financially, Weinfurter said.
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