This is what is going on in my neck of the woods. http://www.theindychannel.com/education/28820808/detail.html
Ug. I hope the parents stick to their guns, though. $400+ for one child isn't too horrible, but some of us have 4 children. $1600+ is a much different story!
The charter schools here charge for bus transportation, the public schools don't charge, but the bus stop coverage is limited, and many students have to walk as much as a mile to their bus stops, so they generally just get dropped off at school or ride their bikes to class.
$475 per child just to ride the school bus?! Holy smokes! No way I'd pay that kind of money. I've got 3 kids, that = $1425. Insane. That would pay for most of our yearly extra-curricular activities! Reason #356 why I'm glad I homeschool.
No. In Ohio, I'm pretty sure that the district isn't permitted to charge for riding the bus. Even with private schools, the district is responsible for transportation.
From reading the comments it looks like this was retaliation for a new tax levee not being approved. Sort of a, "Fine. You didn't give us more taxes, so you can't ride the bus for free anymore."
This is happening just as our state is getting the voucher system rolling. I am seriously glad I am going into our 3rd year and not having to deal with all the stuff that is coming around the corner!
My nieces school district in Ohio got rid of transportation for all high school kids last year because the tax leavy did not pass. Luckily my one niece had freinds who could drive her and then she got her license mid year but there were alot of families who had to find a way to get their kids to school. They also extended the distance for k-8 to be students more than 2 miles away. That is not a problem around here at the moment but not having to get dd out the door is something I love, especially in bad weather.
Now THAT I've heard of them doing a lot of. Usually it's when a levy has failed, and the parents get all upset so they pass the next one. Ranks right up there with charging to play sports/activities and cutting art/music. All the parents complain, the district says, "Pass the levy and we'll bring them back!", and the levy passes. Gee! What would happen if, instead of cutting THOSE things, they would cut back on the number of pencil-pushers they have at the Board of Education or in Administration? Most schools could function wonderfully with half the number of high-up administrators!
Our distance for k-8 is 3 miles! And we have almost no sidewalks anywhere in the city. At least one child a year is killed by a car on their way to school. (And I'm not exaggerating!) They don't have school buses for middle/high school, so the city bus (owned by a private company) sells an insanely cheap bus pass for those kids.
Columbus had free bus passes to all high school children in the district for several years; they just quit doing that because the kids were causing trouble on the buses! (I'm referring to the City Bus, not the normal school bus routes!)
