When the first Suttons Bay student climbs onto a bus Sept. 7 to ride to school, it could prove to be an historic moment — or another example that even common-sense efforts to save taxpayer money can run aground.
The school district, which was facing a half million-dollar budget shortfall, has contracted with the Bay Area Transportation Authority to provide busing for 400 or so Suttons Bay students. If the district can secure grant money to help pay BATA for bus passes (about $300 per student), it can save up to $500,000 (the equivalent of seven teaching positions) and plug the hole in its budget. Even without a bus pass grant the district could still save $350,000.
You don't need to be a policy wonk to see this could be big news for schools and taxpayers. In northern Michigan, where most students don't live close enough to their school to walk, busing is a way of life and a major expense for school districts.
Traverse City Area Public Schools, for instance, spends about $6 million a year to transport about 5,600 students to school (total enrollment is about 10,000). The district is spending $1,181 per student per year, well above the regional average of $733 to $935. Any significant reduction in transportation costs could mean millions.
Predictably, the Suttons Bay effort is not without critics. Michigan Education Association-backed school bus drivers warned about safety issues — BATA-operated buses (it purchased eight Suttons Bay buses and painted them white) can't use flashing red lights like school buses can, and the buses will also carry regular BATA riders along with students.
Most recently, the National School Transportation Association, an Alexandria, Va.-based special interest group that advocates for school bus manufacturers and private contractors, hired a California-based transportation consultant to look into the arrangement.
Not being able to force all other traffic to stop when the bus picks up or drops off students is a legitimate concern, one that will be up to the driving public, parents and bus drivers to resolve.
Other objections don't appear to amount to much. BATA, for instance, has said it will use its dial-a-ride program to give service for BATA riders who need wheelchair-lift assistance, something the converted school buses can't provide.
This is a huge step for Suttons Bay families; the district and BATA deserve recognition for trying to save big bucks by ending the duplication of services.
Taxpayers support BATA but also every school bus in BATA's two-county service area.
This could be a first step toward saving millions.
The district has said it will look at busing again in a year. With a can-do approach to resolving problems the program should be running well by then.
As tests go, this is a big one; flunking isn't an option.
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