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.