Bus Route Design
Bus routes are created to enhance student safety while maximizing vehicle efficiency. Stops are created that allow students to wait off the main roadway for the bus if at all possible. Stops are also created to minimize students walking in highly traveled roadways for long distances without sidewalks. Stops are not placed in dead end streets to minimize bus accidents while backing up (Backing is a very dangerous maneuver for a School bus). Stops are spread as far apart as criteria will allow in order to decrease the number of stops each bus will make on its route thus minimizing riding time for the students.
Elementary students may be required to walk up to ¼ of a mile to a bus stop.
Secondary students may be required to walk up to ½ of a mile. Bus routes are designed to limit student ride time to no more than 45 minutes one-way if at all possible, however, most students ride under 30 minutes one-way.
Do school districts have to provide bus transportation for students?
Answer - No, bus transportation is a privilege not a right, except in the case of special education students. Bussing students began at a time when communities were more rural and students had great distances to travel to school.
Do districts get reimbursed fully for the cost of bussing students?
Answer - No, it is not even close. In the case of FISD, we get reimbursed $1.25 cents per mile based on the states allotment formula, and this allotment formula hasn't changed in 20 years. The actual cost today of purchasing busses, bus maintenance, transportation salaries, equipment and fuel comes to approximately $4.75 per mile. Based on last year's operating costs, the district and taxpayers spent $3 million on regular route bussing and $1.125 million on special routes. Transportation Facts from 2006-2007: 139 busses, 66 double routes, 28 special needs routes, transporting 4,700 students per day, 1,580,371 route miles per year, 3898 Field trips, 371,707 miles per year, 187,258 gallons of diesel used annually.
Why are only students who live more than two miles from school eligible for bus transportation?
Answer - Most districts utilize the two-mile rule, because that is the distance set by the state in regard to reimbursement. As stated above, this is truly only a partial reimbursement when you look at actual costs.
Why doesn't FISD declare hazardous routes like some other districts do?
Answer - We have studied this issue and if FISD designated hazardous areas, it would be a tremendous financial and tax burden on the school district.
Summary
To summarize the information in regard to hazardous routes, a school district can only be reimbursed for up to 10 percent of their annual mileage allotment. Based on our 2001-2002 transportation report, FISD traveled 259,560 miles. If FISD decided to designate hazardous areas, we would receive 97 cents per mile for only up to 25,956 miles a year for a total of $25,177. This amount of money is the equivalent of paying one bus driver and providing gas for one bus route. If the district transported students more than 25,956 miles within the hazardous areas that are under the two-mile limit, the district would be responsible for all additional costs.
When people say the district would be reimbursed if we designated areas as hazardous, they are only partially correct.
FISD has never designated hazardous roadways, but they have also never stated that students living within two miles should walk or ride their bikes to school. The implication has been that parents are responsible for getting their students to and from school if they live within two miles. As stated earlier, if FISD adopted a policy defining hazardous roadways and began designating areas as such it would create a tremendous burden to taxpayers.
