By Larry Riley in the Muncie Star-Press:
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MCS officials insist that bus service will be terminated with the referendum’s failure to pass, starting with the 2014-15 school year.
Busing became an issue statewide last year after an Indianapolis school district, Franklin Township, went through several years trying to get more money than property tax caps allowed.
Franklin school officials tried not one, but two referendums for more money, both failing at the ballot box.
Franklin’s financial problems were similar to Muncie’s in that a ton of debt had to be paid off.
The problems were way dissimilar in that Franklin saw a fast-rising school enrollment, going from 6,400 students in 2001 up to more than 9,000 by 2011. The district hastily built more schools and took on lots of debt.
This is in direct contrast to Muncie Community Schools, which during the same period of time saw almost a complete reversal of Franklin as far as enrollment went, dropping from perhaps 9,000 down to 6,700. Nevertheless, school board members decided to spend $55 million to upgrade facilities and take on lots of debt in the middle of the shrinkage.
(Yes, one has to wonder if those school board members learned their critical thinking skills in Muncie school classrooms.)
I actually think that until the Franklin standoffs occurred and officials at that school looked into every option, nobody realized that Indiana didn’t require schools to provide transportation to and from school for students.
But Franklin saw an out, and in its final referendum attempt warned parents (and voters) that transportation would end if taxes weren’t raised because, indeed, state law did not require school to provide transportation. (Federal law requires certain students with special needs to be transported, so officials confirmed some busing would continue.)
When the referendum failed, Franklin sold its buses to a private firm, who took over transportation, and parents were charged a fee if their kids needed bused. Legislators last year put an end to the practice of charging parents for busing.
Some parents sued Franklin schools, but I think the suit was dropped when Franklin schools restructured debt to free up money for transportation (imagine that) for the 2012-13 school year and going forward.
State legislators also weighed in the importance of school transportation by requiring any elimination of the service to be announced three years in advance. Schools were given a possible out by a provision allowing distressed districts to petition for a waiver from the three-year period.
Muncie school officials said they applied for the waiver, and initially led the public to believe they received an OK from the Indiana Department of Education. Later, under more questioning, they clarified that the state had not approved the application after all, but was waiting for the referendum before acting on the petition.
Perhaps this will be moot now, depending on yesterday’s outcome.
Still, I’d like to see the petition that MCS filed with the state, because the school system should, by law, have included a plan with the petition.
Namely, “a written plan that provides for the safe movement of eligible students to and from school.” And “eligible students” is defined in the law as any individual enrolled and attending school and not required by federal or other state law to receive transportation services.
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http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013311060024
