- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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"We really want to get a sense of who is being served," said BOE member Tom Keane. "We don't want to leave kids who are involved in activities after school who wouldn't be able to get themselves home." Indeed, representatives from Lansing Youth Services came to the meeting to make just that argument.
"This bus is critical to our program," said Barbara Barry. "This program is available to all children in the schools. We make a real effort encourage children who may ordinarily not be involved in school activities. Unfortunately those are also the children who do not have a way to get home from the program."
Program Director Micaela Cook noted that many other programs also rely on the 5 o'clock bus, including sports, plays and other extracurricular activities. She said that those kids who are most at risk depend the most on the transportation the bus affords them. "Certainly from my program the group that's targeted is the group that most often has transportation issues. Those are the kids that most need to be involved in something after school. It's a very important support structure for combating parents who can't be at home when their kids get home from school, who might get into trouble, who are at loose ends and don't have the resources to develop their talents in a constructive way."
The Youth Services High School program employs students, teaching them how to get a job and how to keep one once they have it. Dawn Kleeschulte, who runs the High School component, said, "Transportation, because we are in a rural area, is vital for students, particularly in ninth grade who can't get jobs at Tops because they can't get rides back and forth, but they can get a job here."
Board members wanted to know what the run is costing the district. "If we eliminated the bus run for the remainder of the school year the District would be saving from six to eight thousand dollars," Interim Business Administrator Larry Driscoll said. He added that it costs the district about $20,000 per year, or $2,000 per month to operate the 5 o'clock bus run. He noted that 8-26 students are on the bus on any given day, and said that there is money in this year's budget to cover the bus run if the BOE wants to keep it.
"I think the savings are nominal when you look at a $20 million budget," said Keane. "This directly impacts kids."
BOE member Dan Brown asked Driscoll what the $2,000 per month figure includes. "I need to get more information on the fully loaded costs, in terms of wear and tear on the busses..." "It's drivers and fuel," Driscoll told him.
"It does seem like a lot of money," said BOE member Glen Swanson. "It's about a thousand dollars per student. I'd be interested in whether there's an alternative to running two large busses." He suggested looking into running smaller busses or vans instead.
The Board tabled the vote until they can get a complete picture of what the bus run costs, giving them time to consider alternatives that would serve kids who are most in need at a lower cost. Kids will be able to get home on the late bus, at least for the rest of the school year.
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