From the Indianapolis Star:
"The controversial pay-to-ride bus service in a cash-strapped Indianapolis school district could be coming to an end soon.
The fee-based system in Franklin Township Schools would be forbidden under a measure passed by the Indiana General Assembly and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels.
The bill, authored by Rep. Mike Speedy, R-Indianapolis, bans school districts from handing buses to an outside company that charges parents for transportation.
"I consider this a public safety issue," Speedy said. "Given the infrastructure of Franklin Township, the county roads without sidewalks, it really begs that the school district provide transportation."
Franklin Township Schools outraged parents when it handed its buses over to a nonprofit company that began charging parents $47.50 per month for a child to ride the school bus. The district took the step after voters rejected a property tax increase to help in school funding.
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Speedy said a judge or a state agency could order Franklin Township to reimburse parents who paid for bus service this year.
"I believe this year's transportation services should have been paid out of their rainy day fund," Speedy said. "I would not be surprised if I saw a governmental agency requiring the refund."
Superintendent Walter Bourke said another measure awaiting Daniels' signature gives district leaders a way to pay for transportation and other expenses next year.
Under that bill, boards at Franklin Township and several other cash-strapped school districts would have the power to refinance debt without a public referendum.
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Franklin Township's School Board is scheduled to consider the bond refinancing plan at its March 26 meeting, Bourke said.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012203130374
