RIPON – Having their kids ride Ripon Unified school buses is going to cost parents up to $200 a year.
Those who ride the bus on a regular basis will be expected to pay $25 a semester. Families with more than four students will be assessed at the rate of $100 per semester or $200 a year.
Students that occasionally ride the bus will be charged $1 per ride. The charges are designed to offset the cost of operating the buses due to the Ripon Unified budget shortfall.
“At this point it’s not news to anyone that the state budget is a problem for schools and will likely be that way for some time,” Superintendent Louise Nan said. “It’s something that we’ve been dealing with everyday, and the rider pass program is a way to help deal with that.”
Since last spring district administrators have been working with the state to determine how much money they were likely to lose from transportation funding. Initially they expected to lose as much as $144,980 (or 65 percent of the total budget) that would have been a death blow to transportation for all students.
The final amount that was cut was just over $44,000. It gave administrators some leeway in determining how they’ll be able to determine the best course of action to continue offering busing to students throughout the district.
The concept of the rider pass has been discussed for the last several months just received the support of the Board of Education earlier this week.
“So far the feedback that we’ve received from parents has been positive even though this is something that nobody wants to be facing,” Nan said. “Eliminating busing altogether is something that we wanted to avoid, and we believe that this system is a way that we’re able to do just that.”
Manteca Unified has charges student athletes and those participating in after-school activities that require transportation a fee that covers costs.
Ripon Unified might allow fundraisers to offset the cost of the semester passes but that has yet to be determined. It is similar to what the sports boosters programs in Manteca Unified did to lighten the burden on families.
Those who ride the bus on a regular basis will be expected to pay $25 a semester. Families with more than four students will be assessed at the rate of $100 per semester or $200 a year.
Students that occasionally ride the bus will be charged $1 per ride. The charges are designed to offset the cost of operating the buses due to the Ripon Unified budget shortfall.
“At this point it’s not news to anyone that the state budget is a problem for schools and will likely be that way for some time,” Superintendent Louise Nan said. “It’s something that we’ve been dealing with everyday, and the rider pass program is a way to help deal with that.”
Since last spring district administrators have been working with the state to determine how much money they were likely to lose from transportation funding. Initially they expected to lose as much as $144,980 (or 65 percent of the total budget) that would have been a death blow to transportation for all students.
The final amount that was cut was just over $44,000. It gave administrators some leeway in determining how they’ll be able to determine the best course of action to continue offering busing to students throughout the district.
The concept of the rider pass has been discussed for the last several months just received the support of the Board of Education earlier this week.
“So far the feedback that we’ve received from parents has been positive even though this is something that nobody wants to be facing,” Nan said. “Eliminating busing altogether is something that we wanted to avoid, and we believe that this system is a way that we’re able to do just that.”
Manteca Unified has charges student athletes and those participating in after-school activities that require transportation a fee that covers costs.
Ripon Unified might allow fundraisers to offset the cost of the semester passes but that has yet to be determined. It is similar to what the sports boosters programs in Manteca Unified did to lighten the burden on families.
