Schools

$480K Savings if Parkland Busing is Reduced

The Parkland School District wants to limit the amount of busing for non-public and charter school students living within the district.

The Parkland School District says it can save $480,000 per year if the state's school code allows it to reduce the radius it must bus students to school from five miles, down from 10 miles.

The district, on its website, said it has advocated this change to the Pennsylvania School Board Association's legislative platform.

"This is the same topic we entertained with the governor," said Superintendent of School Richard Sniscak prior to Tuesday night's school board meeting. "We have to bus the non-public students and the charter students in a 10-mile radius. With a five-mile radius, we would save approximately $480,000.

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"It doesn't cost anybody anything and those who live (outside a five-mile radius) would have to find other means (to get to school)," Sniscak said. 

State law mandates school districts provide transportation for students who live within their boundaries, but attend non-public or charter schools up to 10 miles outside them.

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The district says in 2011-12, it transported 572 private and charter students who attend schools outside the district. The average cost per student was $2,360, totaling about $1.35 million.  Had the busing radius been 5 miles, the district would have transported 126 fewer students, saving the district about $480,000. 

In all, the district spent $900,000 in 2011-12 busing 815 students to 50 private and charter schools both inside Parkland and within 10 miles of the district’s radius.

The district said its transportation budget for 2011-12 was $7.4 million with state funding paying $1.46 million.

The district says it is capped at that amount of reimbursement funding and as prices increase, the transportation costs falls on residents.

The district says when a bus goes to a housing development, picks up 35 student and takes them to the local elementary school, it's a quick stop and all of the students get off at the same place. 

With charter and non-public students, a bus could be picking up one student per neighborhood and driving them across the Lehigh Valley to school.


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