The deadline for parents in the Poway Unified School District to seek bus passes for their children is approaching fast, but less than half the applications needed to save the service have come in so far.

District officials have said they need at least 2,800 applications by Aug. 2 to maintain the service.

Poway Unified spokeswoman Sharon Raffer said the district had received about 1,100 applications as of Wednesday afternoon.

The district's decision to raise the cost of an annual bus pass from $439 to $575 could be affecting the response rate.

Poway Unified officials originally recommended the district discontinue its bus service to help balance its annual budget in the face of cuts in state education funding. The change, which would not affect special education students, is expected to save Poway Unified about $750,000.

However, the proposal upset parents who said they would have a hard time getting their children to school if bus service ended. The district then came up with an alternative option that includes the higher bus pass fee.

Poway Unified officials have said the district could continue to provide downscaled bus service if the parents of at least 85 percent of the 3,300 or so students who rode the bus during the 2009-10 school year are willing to pay the higher fee.

Raffer said it was difficult to predict at this point whether the threshold would be met.

"There's calls coming in (about bus service) every day, and we don't know how many applications were downloaded because you do that from the (district's) website," she said. "But there definitely has been an interest, and there has definitely been people indicating that they are going to send in their check."

A group of parents, bus drivers and other individuals eager to see bus service continue recently formed a group that is trying to raise money to help financially strapped families pay the higher fee.

The group, Transport All Kids Everyday, will sponsor a breakfast from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Aug. 5 at Cafe Merlot, 13330 Paseo del Verano Norte in Rancho Bernardo. The event costs $10, but people are free to give more.

Poway Unified is one of the last North County holdouts when it comes to offering bus service to anyone but special education students.

Escondido Union School District cuts its bus service several years ago, and San Marcos Unified School District followed suit in 2008. Several other North County districts scaled back their bus services the same year.

Oceanside Unified School District initially maintained its free service but began charging students who rode the bus in 2009. And in June, the district's board voted to eliminate the service altogether.

In each case, district administrators said the moves were necessary in the face of the state budget cuts.

Parents who urged Poway Unified's board in May not to eliminate bus service in that district did not respond to phone messages left at their homes this week.

The district has told 35 bus drivers and five other transportation department employees that they will lose their jobs if bus service ends.

Seven-year Poway Unified bus driver Lauren Zimmerman said she is not on the layoff list because she transports special education students. Nonetheless, she said the idea of no regular bus service was difficult to accept, with child safety issues, increased traffic around schools, and increased truancy rates among the likely consequences she cited.

"I'm passionate about my job, I love kids and I love transporting my kids and looking out for them," said Zimmerman, who is involved with the fundraising group. "And they all belong on a bus. It's the safest way to get to school and the best way to get them to school."

Information about and the application for a bus pass is available at www.powayusd.com/trans/2010-11SchoolBusInformation.pdf.

Call 858-592-7785 or email Melinda@turnwall.net for information about the fundraising group.

Call staff writer Andrea Moss at 760-739-6654.