Bus fee approved

Marissa Espino

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Huntington Beach City School District school

board voted in favor of charging students $1 per day to ride the bus

because the district is spending $120,000 more than what the state

provides for bus transportation.

Passes will be sold in December and the program begins Jan. 3. The first

year cost will be $90 for the remainder of the year and $45 for students

who qualify for reduced priced lunch. Special education students will

ride for free.

Next school year, parents will pay $180 for an annual round-trip pass per

student or $100 for a semester round-trip pass per student; qualified

low-income families will pay $25; and students qualifying for reduced

priced lunch will pay $90 annually. A second or third child will pay half

price and the cost per family would not exceed $360.

Board trustees Shirley Carey and Robert Mann, who voted against charging

for transportation, said they did not support the change because the

district should not be charging students who need to take the bus for

safety reasons.

Carey said many of the lower-income families who do not qualify for

financial aid will suffer from the decision.

“That kind of crunch is a huge hit for them and it’s unreasonable,” Carey

said. “I don’t feel we should burden the community until we explore all

options that are available to us.”

Trustee Brian Rechsteiner said he did not witness any big community

outcry against the bus fee decision.

The district held two bus fee information meetings in the summer, and the

board also offered an additional public hearing Tuesday night in case

anyone wanted to speak up. The attendance was minimal at the information

meetings and no one spoke against charging for transportation Tuesday.

“The community wasn’t concerned about having to pay for busing,”

Rechsteiner said. “We have given everybody ample opportunity to voice

their concerns one way or the other.”