LAGUNA BEACH : School District to Impose $200-Per-Student Busing Fee

In a move officials say will generate about $150,000 for the financially strapped Laguna Beach Unified School District, the board of education voted Tuesday night to impose a fee to transport students to and from elementary school.

The fee--$200 per student annually, with discounts for larger families--will be in effect for the coming school year, and parents should begin receiving notices about the new policy within weeks.

All other South County school districts already charge busing fees, ranging from $180 to $365 annually.

There was little opposition to the board’s action. Only board member Jan Vickers--who favored a smaller fee--voted against the measure.

Linda Erickson, a parent and teacher at El Morro Elementary School, said the fee will have “a significant impact” on some families while not bothering others.

“If it has to be done, it has to be done,” she said.

According to the plan, parents will pay $200 per student for the first two children. A third child can ride for $100. No family will be charged more than $500 per year.

Also Tuesday night, the board voted to increase fees for new development and home additions from $1.58 to $1.72 per square foot as a way of raising money to build school facilities, a move that could add $24,000 to district coffers.

The board is continuing to wrestle with a projected shortfall of $530,817 in the district’s $13.5-million budget for the 1995-96 school year, caused by the county’s bankruptcy.

The board has already agreed to cut almost $400,000 in spending from the upcoming budget. Had the transportation fee not been approved, officials say, they would have had to cut more.