Rochester School Board member Cynthia Elliott. FILE PHOTO
The Rochester School Board is caught in a heated public relations struggle that is being framed as a battle between student safety and the district's desire to control spending.
School Board member Cynthia Elliott wants all city students from kindergarten through eighth grade to be bused to and from school, regardless of how close they live.
"This is an urgent matter," she says.
Young children should not have to walk through unsafe neighborhoods and cross streets, she says.
But paying for more busing is the problem.
The district is expecting a sizeable mid-year cut from the state, and the board wouldn't be acting responsibly if the financial ramifications of additional busing weren't clear, says Board Vice President Van White.
The district's current policy provides busing for elementary students who live more than 1.5 miles from school, but it was only loosely enforced until this school year. Enforcement will save the district more than $1 million, but it also means that more than 800 children who were bused last year are now denied transportation.
The state reimburses the district for busing elementary students who live two or more miles from school, and seventh and eighth graders who live 2.5 miles or more.
Busing all kindergarten through eighth-grade students would cost the district nearly $11 million more annually in non-reimbursable funds. Board member Allen Williams has suggested using money saved through recent health-care insurance contract negotiations with the unions. But it's unclear if all of that money will actually materialize.
The policy committee, led by Elliott, is expected to draft a resolution to change the busing policy, and present it at the next School Board meeting, which is at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 19.
Most School Board member say that they could support reinstating busing for those students recently denied transportation. And there may be a way to fund busing through the third grade, they say, but going beyond that is uncertain due to costs.
Comments for "EDUCATION: The battle over school busing " (1)
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Howard Eagle said on Nov. 12, 2009 at 8:48pm
PRESS STATEMENT
November 12, 2009
My Position On The Rochester City School District (RCSD) Busing issue
PRESS STATEMENT
November 12, 2009
My Position On The Rochester City School District (RCSD) Busing issue
Howard J. Eagle
P.O. Box 19442
Rochester, N.Y. 14619-0442
Website: www.howardeagle.com
Email: heagle@rochester.rr.com; Phone: (585) 752-1426
With regard to the D&C report below, and the issue of providing transportation for all RCSD students who need it --- I want the families and tax-paying citizens of Rochester to know that, if I was a sitting member of the Rochester Board of Education, not only would I have agreed with Senior Director of Operations James Fenton's suggestion to "find out how students will fit on existing bus routes, which aren't always filled to capacity," but I would have also taken direction (based on Superintendent Brizard's statement and question): "We can do that, [provide transportation to all students who need it] but the question is, what are we willing to subtract?" My response and recommendation would have been that we can and should begin by subtracting the following:
-telephone expenses - Currently, the RCSD provides large numbers of principals and other administrators cell phones. My position is that very few (other than the Superintendent) really need them, and if they do, then certainly we can reduce the number of land-lines.
-travel expenses - Far too many RCSD employees, including Board members, are traveling to and fro (far too frequently) on tax-payer- funded trips for reasons that have no direct correlation, nor direct impact on teaching and learning.
-reimbursement for costs of Doctorate degrees for RCSD administrators - This practice should simply be eliminated.
-consultants - The RCSD hires far too many consultants for purposes of performing tasks and duties, which (in many cases) can be, and should be performed by existing RCSD employees.
As a second step, I would sit down with a copy of the $700 million 2009 -10 RCSD Budget, and go through it line-by-line (in search of other sensible and reasonable efficiencies).
If necessary, I would propose the changes above via a formal Board Resolution, and if I was unable to secure the support of at least three other board members --- then I would take my case directly to the parents, tax-payers and voters.
Howard J. Eagle
RCSD Parent, Social Studies Teacher
Community Activist, and The People's Candidate
For Rochester Board of Education (2009 & beyond)
Democrat and Chronicle
Rochester school board OKs more busing of pupils
Nestor Ramos • Staff writer • November 11, 2009
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20091111/NEWS01/911110337/1003
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