As news came that the state Legislature had approved a bill that would restore funding to the home-to-school transportation budget while taking an equal cut from all schools statewide, Hollister School District Superintendent Gary McIntire said that the ruling would not change plans to eliminate bus service for the following school year.
“It’s a pretty confusing issue,” McIntire said. “I don’t really see this doing anything.”
McIntire said it was his understanding that Senate Bill 81 will restore funding for transportation for the current fiscal year, of which the district was expected to lose $163,969, half of the budget for general transportation for the year. While the district will not lose that funding for transportation, McIntire estimated that it would lose up to $170,000 through the general cut.
In January, Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watonsville, called on the governor to use his discretion to avoid the transportation cut citing its disproportionate effect on low-income and rural students throughout California.
SB 81 saves school busing by equitably distributing a cut across all public schools in California, instead of a single, large cut to the bus program. The bill has no additional cost to the state.
“In rural communities, school buses are the only way children can get to school,” Alejo said in a statement. “Under our constitution, school children have a right to a free public education, but if they don’t have the means to get to the classroom then how do they exercise that right? It is simply wrong to balance the budget on the backs of poor children.”
The governor was expected to sign the bill, which would go into effect immediately.
“This bill appears to help schools when in fact all it does is spread the same reduction across all schools,” McIntire said. “To suggest it is a restoration of funding is misleading.”
The Hollister School District sent out letters last week to the families of currently enrolled students who are eligible for bus service to let them know about the elimination of transportation starting in August.
“We want to give those families as much notice as we can that we will implement this in August,” he said. “We want to get the word out now so people can begin to plan for how to adjust to that.”
He did say that if the proposed budget for 2012-13 is revised to include funding for transportation, the school board may revisit the decision to eliminate busing.
“We would certainly consider it if the revenue was there to support the program,” he said.
But he stressed that even with transportation funding for the remainder of the year, the district will still have to deal with the mid-year cut from the general budget.
“It’s kind of a moving target,” he said, of the budget. “All school districts are very reluctant to receive any kind of mid-year cut. You operate with contracts so the costs are determined at the beginning of the year. You can’t reduce staff – certain staff you can reduce with a 45-day notice. But with cuts it’s almost impossible to adjust (the budget.)”
