MENIFEE: School board signals intent to raise bus fees

Survey shows the district has lowest fares among neighboring districts

By CATHY REDFERN - Staff Writer | Tuesday, March 25, 2008 11:03 PM PDT ∞

MENIFEE ---- School district trustees decided Tuesday to consider raising fees parents pay to have their children bused to school.

While not all board members of the Menifee Union School District are behind the plan, three of the five trustees indicated they would probably vote at their April 8 meeting to hike the bus fees more than 10 percent.

The discussion followed a comparison of fees charged for busing in eight neighboring districts that showed that Menifee was tied with Perris Union High School District in charging the least. Board member Phoeba Irey requested the comparison at an earlier board meeting.

The survey showed that Temecula Valley Unified School District has the highest fees, with annual passes costing $390. By comparison, an annual pass in the Menifee district costs $190.

The proposal expected to be put on the table is to up the cost to $210 per year, which is still below the eight districts' average of $262.

If the board formally adopts the increase, the cost for a single bus trip will go from 80 cents to $1, and the trimester fare will go from $75 to $90.

Trustees Irey, Fred Twyman and Rita Peters voiced their support for the increase at the board meeting Tuesday.

The move would free up about $15,000 of the $800,000 the district was planning to spend on busing next school year, Assistant Superintendent Dan Wood said.

"It will help some," he said.

The amount budgeted for transportation next year is substantially less than the $1.4 million budgeted for this fiscal year. School board members announced last month that the district would no longer provide bus service for most elementary school students. That cut was one of several that trustees approved in anticipation of less revenue coming in from the state next year than they'd hoped for.

Board member Rita Peters said the district should not continue absorbing all of the costs for busing, a sentiment Irey and Twyman agreed with.

Twyman said he believes the proposed increase is reasonable because bus service is a convenience, not a necessity.

After the meeting, he said the move "will probably make us look like ogres."

But, he said, the state has put growing districts such as Menifee at a disadvantage when it comes to transportation funding.

In 1982, the state froze the amount given to districts for transportation costs, leading growing districts to cover an increasing share of the expense. Menifee receives about $300,000 from the state each year for busing, Twyman said.

"We're spending classroom money for busing, and I think we should be spending money in the classroom," he said.

Two members of the board said Tuesday they opposed further consideration of the increase.

Robert O'Donnell said he thought the district already had hit many people in the pocketbook this year. Last month, a majority of voters in the district approved a school bond, which will lead to increased property taxes for residents and businesses.

Board member Victor Giardinelli agreed that now is not the right time for the board to ask parents for more money.

-- Contact staff writer Cathy Redfern at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or credfern@californian.com.

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