Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Sulphur Springs School District OKs Busing Fees in Effort to Trim Deficit

A third Santa Clarita Valley school district will soon join two others in charging students to ride the bus to school.

Sulphur Springs School District trustees on Wednesday night authorized a busing fee of $60 per semester or $100 per year to reduce a nearly $300,000 deficit for transportation services.

The district in Canyon Country is expected to receive between $80,000 to $100,000 with the fee and to recoup additional funds when buses are taken out of service because of reduced ridership.

“We did not set the fees to wipe out the deficit,” said Sulphur Springs Supt. Robert Nolet, adding that the charge would cover only half of the transportation program’s costs.

The fee structure is scheduled to take effect at the end of September, a few weeks after classes begin, to give parents time to prepare for it.

Sulphur Springs typically serves 1,700 to 2,400 elementary school students with its buses. District officials predict ridership to dip initially between 30% and 40%, but increase as the year progresses.

“It’s speculative at the moment. We’ve tried to keep the fees reasonable,” Nolet said.

School bus service is not required under state law except for disabled students, who will continue to ride for free in the Sulphur Springs district. Others who would face a financial hardship can apply for a discount or waiver.

Santa Clarita’s Newhall School District and William S. Hart Union High School District last year each began charging students $200 annually to ride the bus, prompting many to seek other methods of transportation. More teen-agers began riding Santa Clarita transit buses once the Hart District fee went into effect.

Ridership dipped about 20% for the Newhall district that served 1,000 to 1,100 elementary school children before the fee was established. Figures rose slightly as the year progressed, although school officials saw a more significant jump in car-pooling.

“Ridership went up slightly, but it did not approach what it was before,” said Newhall Supt. J. Michael McGrath.

The Newhall district generated $80,000 last year with its fees and saved an additional $75,000 by taking two of 18 school buses out of service.

Public bus ridership jumped in September and October from the same period in 1991, from 2,000 to 2,700 daily riders, said Ron Kilcoyne, city transportation coordinator.

Saugus Union School District, another elementary school system, is not considering a charge for bus service.