Increased expenses generates higher rates for local students
Morgan Hill – Once again, Morgan Hill School District officials have hiked the fees parents pay to ship their kids to and from school.
The district attributes the increase to rising transportation expenses, but fears could be a deciding factor for local parents searching for other ways to get their kids to class to stop using the district buses entirely.
“It’s a catch-22 situation,” said Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini. “What could happen is, our actual revenue could drop. If this is just too much for some families, they may drive their students themselves. But they will come back eventually, when they see it costs them a lot more to drive their student unless they drive right by the school.”
Currently, an annual pass for one student is $270. School Board trustees voted unanimously Feb. 14 to increase the fee for the next school year to $300. The district first began its bus pass program – charging for ridership – in the late 1990’s. Each of the past five years, the district has made adjustments to the fees.
Tognazzini said the state puts a cap on what districts are allowed to charge. No more than $7.34 for a round trip is the state limit; MHUSD charges $1.50. With the new rate, the district will charge $1.67 per round trip.
The increased costs to run the department, Tognazzini said, are the reasons for the fee increases. Not only have gas prices increased, but general operational costs have also gone up.
Another factor in the transportation department budget is the lease the district has on the corporation yard from the city. The lease payment has risen, and the district must pay to clean up an underground leak at the yard. In this year’s budget, the underground clean-up amount is $106,995, the lease costs $143,000 and fuel expenses are $316,762. Revenue from bus passes this year totals $195,000.
Trustee Peter Mandel asked if the district no longer had to pay the lease amount to the city, would that bring costs down.
“We would be reinvesting those resources in the district,” Tognazzini said.
Trustee Shelle Thomas pointed out that only 25 percent of district students take transportation.
“A large portion of that is kids that live in Morgan Hill that we transport to Martin Murphy,” she added.
According to a district report, last year there were 948 elementary students who took the bus, 615 middle schoolers, 541 high school students and 179 special education students. This year, 959 elementary students rode a bus, while 576 middle and 672 high school students used transportation. There are 242 special education students using district transportation. Approximately, 8,000 students attend district schools.
Tognazzini said operational costs for home to school trips are almost $1.8 million this year, while special education transportation costs this year are $1.5 million. The district received about $1.6 million in funding from the state this year.
“One of the biggest things is the cost of transporting kids to places like Palo Alto and back, one child in the bus,” Superintendent Alan Nishino told trustees. “Of course, the child deserves the services. The problem is, we don’t get the support.”
Tognazzini said the increase in bus pass fees would help with operational costs for the transportation department.
“We’re not attempting to cover the costs by raising this fee,” she said. “This is primarily for home to school that we are proposing this raise.”
