THOUSAND OAKS : Board to Continue School Bus Program

Thousand Oaks school officials have voted to continue home-to-school busing for parents who choose to pay for it.

Under the system, parents pay the costs of busing their children to school. Conejo Valley Unified School District officials had hoped parents’ payments would cover busing costs, but the service is running at a $44,000 deficit.

Bill Henry, the only school board member to oppose continuing the program, argued at Tuesday’s meeting that the district should not spend money on transportation when other district programs have been cut in recent years. But the four other board members voted to continue the program, saying they want to keep up the bargain they made with parents who signed up for busing for the whole year.

“You can’t keep changing courses in the middle of the stream,” board member Dolores Didio said.

In the fall of 1992, Conejo Valley became the first district in Ventura County to charge parents for bus service. That year, student fees to cover the busing service fell short by about $64,000.

Last fall, the district lowered the price of its bus pass from $225 to $180 per semester in an effort to attract more riders and make money. The move lowered the district’s subsidy of busing to $44,000.