As school systems scour budgets for possible cuts, school bus service across the region has increasingly been placed on the chopping block.
Hamilton County Schools and Dalton City Schools are considering less bus service for students, while at least a handful of other districts across the country are cutting buses altogether.
Busing is a big-ticket item. Last year in Dalton, the school system changed policy and required students within a half-mile of their schools to either walk or be driven to school.
“That saved $1 million,” said school board Chairman Steve Williams. “We did that last year, and now we’re looking at increasing that, but from a half-mile to where, I’m not really sure what makes sense.”
In the Bayless School District in suburban St. Louis, students must walk to school – or catch a ride from parents – after the school board ended bus service. The cut came after Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, eliminated almost half the state’s school transportation aid.