Countywide : New Rules Ordered for School Bus Fares

The state Department of Education must enact rules to make sure that school districts that charge students for bus transportation provide fee waivers for indigent students, an appeals court in Ventura ruled Thursday.

Ruling in a case that originated in Fillmore nine years ago, the 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered the Ventura County Superior Court to reinstate and modify a 1988 injunction to conform with a 1992 California Supreme Court decision.

The high court ruled then that the state law permitting such fees is constitutional. Since that ruling, bus fees have been imposed by the Conejo Valley Unified School District and have been considered by Simi Valley and Moorpark.

In its ruling Thursday, the Ventura appeals court ruled that the state Department of Education must ensure that local districts provide fee waivers uniformly.

A public-interest law firm, the Channel Counties Legal Services Assn., filed a 1985 suit that challenged a 25-cent bus fee imposed by the Fillmore Unified School District. The suit continued against state education officials after the Fillmore district dropped the fee rather than defend it in court.

The suit contended that districts around the state used differing criteria to determine who was eligible for fee waivers. For example, some districts only allowed students receiving welfare to obtain waivers.

In the Conejo Valley district, about 775 students use school buses, and between 15% and 20% of them pay reduced rates or ride for free, said transportation specialist Anita Peterson.

Unsubsidized students pay $450 per year to ride the bus, she said.

In deciding who qualifies for waivers, she said, the district uses guidelines similar to those governing a federally subsidized lunch program. She added that the district would welcome state policy direction.