Board Will Review School Bus Policy

The student bus transportation policy will be on the agenda tonight as trustees of Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District review their options in regard to saving money.

Under current policy, students who live within walking distance of their schools are not eligible for bus transportation.

The policy states that home-to-school transportation is provided for students in kindergarten through third grade who live farther than 1 1/4 miles from school, and for fourth- through sixth-grade students who live more than 1 1/2 miles from school.

Steven Umber, transportation director, said the district for some time has made exceptions to its policy and allowed students living within walking distance to be bused. Exceptions have been based on such factors as extra room on buses or a lack of sidewalks in a neighborhood, he said.

During the last school year, 434 of the 3,200 students who rode the bus lived within walking distance, officials said.

But because of enrollment growth and lack of buses, there is not enough space on buses to transport those students, Umber said. Also, state funding to cover transportation costs has not increased since 1982, he said.

Umber said the board will review options that include enforcing its current policy, extending the walking distance for middle-school and high-school students and starting a fee-based program in which parents would pay for transportation.

“We’re not required to provide home-to-school transportation. There is no state mandate to provide it,” Umber said. “But we see it as an important service, especially in an area like ours where students live 7 to 8 miles from schools.”

The board will meet at 7 p.m. in the Educational Services Center, 4999 Casa Loma Ave.

Information: (714) 996-2550.