Last year, Forrest Allen had an uneventful 25-minute bus ride to school. Now, the seventh-grader navigates narrow roads and dodges reckless drivers on his daily bike ride to Menifee Valley Middle School.

"Half the time, people try to hit us," said Forrest, 13, who bikes to school with his friend, Ryan Vasquez.

Part of his route to school has only a narrow paved shoulder, with no sidewalk to separate the boys from motorists.

Forrest said teenage drivers will step on the gas, pelting him with rocks, or cross lanes to try to scare him.

"People speed up and they go in the wrong lane and go at us," he said. "They just try to make us go off the road."

Forrest and Ryan are two of hundreds of Southwest County students who lost transportation this year as some school districts eliminated some bus service by increasing the distance around schools within which students must walk or find their own transportation.

Menifee Valley Middle School students living within 2 miles of school are no longer bused, much like students at Bell Mountain Middle School. Previously, the distance for Menifee Valley students was 1 mile and many within that area were bused because they lacked a safe route to school, according to district officials.

Temecula Valley Unified School District trustees increased the distances by a quarter-mile for elementary students, a half-mile for middle school students and three-quarters of a mile for high school students.

That means Temecula students living within 1.25 miles of their elementary school, 2.5 miles of a middle school or 3.25 miles of high school are no longer guaranteed busing. The move eliminated transportation at five schools, including Chaparral High School and James L. Day Middle School, which had a handful of students in their attendance areas who still lived outside the new zones. In all, the district has bus service to 11 of its 27 traditional schools.

Because districts measure those distances aerially, the hike for students can be much longer -- much to the dismay of their parents.

"I'm very upset they took busing away," said Linda Vasquez, Ryan's mother. "They took it away without considering there's no safe route to school."

Menifee used to make exceptions for walking hazards such as a lack of sidewalks, said Dave Brown, the district's director of maintenance, operations and transportation. Those provisions were removed from the new policy adopted in June.

Regional cuts

Those Southwest County districts were not alone in cutting bus service in anticipation of less money flowing in from the state for the budget year that started July 1. In San Diego County, the Poway, Oceanside and Bonsall school districts scaled back bus service, and San Marcos Unified eliminated busing except for special education students and class trips.

Because school districts are only required to transport certain special education students and because state money doesn't cover the costs of busing, many districts have reduced busing services or raised bus pass prices.

A state auditor's report from 2006 reported that the state's transportation funding only covered about 44 percent school districts' transportation costs in the 2004-05 school year. To make up the difference, most districts dipped into their general funds, which pay for salaries and supplies.

Temecula school district spokeswoman Melanie Norton said school officials felt forced to cut busing because of the uncertain state budget and rising cost of fuel. She said officials want to cut down on the amount of money that is used for busing and instead direct it toward the classroom.

Last year, Temecula spent nearly $3.3 million out of its general fund on transportation.

In Menifee, the changes in busing have saved about $800,000 because of the elimination of three routes and the reduced hours of many bus drivers. Brown said the district still expects to pay $1.2 million out of its general fund this year for transportation.

Some Menifee parents have complained that while their children walk to school, buses drive around half empty. Brown said it's difficult to know exactly how many students are riding the buses because many students have not returned to school in the year-round district.

He said district officials are looking at the possibility of selling bus passes to students who live inside the 2-mile zone for middle school but might live closer to an existing bus stop than they do to the school.

"We've looked at different ways we could accommodate them without spending the big money," Brown said.

Other options?

Temecula Valley Unified officials have sold bus passes to students who live within the new zones. Norton said these are "conditional" passes meant to fill buses and could be revoked, with a week's notice and a partial refund, if more students ride.

However, some Temecula parents are upset about paying $520 for bus service that drops their children off a long way from their homes. Parent Heidi Shumaker bought bus passes for her two children at Bella Vista Middle School in French Valley, despite the fact that they are dropped about 1 1/2 miles away from their home, at a bus stop at Pourroy and Jubilee roads. Shumaker said no one ever told her that her children's bus passes were "conditional."

To get to that bus stop, the bus passes the intersection at Pourroy and Benton roads, where Shumaker's children and others in the Butterfield and Adeline's Farm neighborhoods used to be dropped off, and continues driving north -- farther away from the school.

"To me, it doesn't cost any more money to add a stop at Benton and Pourroy," Shumaker said. "They stop at Pourroy and Benton for the stop sign. Why can't they let out my kids and all the other kids?"

Norton said additional bus stops do cost money, especially if it leads so many children to sign up that the district has to add extra buses.

"The goal is to run full buses and you're going to overload the system by allowing additional stops," she said.

Shumaker said she understands the economic conditions, but said "2.5 (miles) is just too far," especially because the commute for her children is a bit longer.

Shumaker said the district should consider other options, such as charging more to transport students who live farther from campus.

In Menifee, the Vasquez and Allen families take turns dropping the boys halfway to school and Forrest and Ryan bike the rest of the way. But their route scares Vasquez, who said she would be willing to pay more for a bus pass to get her son to school safely. The district recently raised the price to $210 for an annual pass.

"If I know he's safe to and from school, you can't even put a price on that," Vasquez said.

Contact staff writer Rani Gupta at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or rgupta@californian.com.

Busing woes

School districts in Southwest County, like those around the state, increased bus pass prices and eliminated bus service for many students this year. Here is a rundown of the changes. Bus pass prices listed are for an annual pass for one student to ride to and from school; there are lower prices for students who meet certain income guidelines or who ride fewer days.

TEMECULA

Fees: $520 for an annual bus pass, up $130 from last year.

Who's eligible? Students living at least 1.5 miles from an elementary school, 2.5 miles from middle school or 3.25 miles from high school. This year, those distances increased by a quarter-mile for elementary students, a half-mile for middle school students and three-quarters of a mile for high school students. Distances are measures aerially, or "as the crow flies."

MENIFEE

Fees: $210 for an annual pass, up $20 from last year.

Who's eligible? Students living at least 1.25 miles from an elementary or 2 miles from middle school. The distance for Menifee Valley Middle School students was increased by 1 mile this year. Distances are measured aerially.

MURRIETA

Fees: $395 for an annual pass, up $30 from last year.

Who's eligible? Students living at least 1 mile from an elementary, 2 miles from a middle school or 3 miles from high school. Distances are measured aerially and were not changed this year.

LAKE ELSINORE

Fees: $300 for an annual pass, up $20 from last year.

Who's eligible? Kindergarteners living 3/4 of a mile and first- through fifth-graders living 1.5 miles from an elementary school, middle school students living 2.5 miles from campus, and high school students living 3.5 miles from school. Distances are determined by the shortest walking route from the child's home to school. The distances were not changed this year.