Paid Busing
Eligibility
Paid busing shall be offered to elementary and middle school students who reside more than 0.5 miles from their serving school and who are not otherwise eligible for free transportation. Due to capacity issues and irregular riding trends, paid busing is not offered to high school students.
Availability
After regular routes are created each year for students eligible for free transportation, open seats on each bus shall be made available to students interested in and eligible for paid busing. A lottery will be held if more students apply for paid busing than seats available.
- There must be sufficient room on the bus for a paid rider to qualify. If, at any time during the school year, room on the bus is needed for an eligible rider, paid riders may be removed. At that time, a prorated refund would be given.
Paid busing shall only be offered only for the whole year and only for both morning and afternoon routes.
Paid Busing Cost
The Superintendent or designee will determine the paid busing cost each school year based on the cost of operating a bus route at capacity. The paid busing cost formula will consist of the following:
The annual operating cost of a bus route (to and from school) divided by the Operating capacity of a bus (e.g., 60 students) = Paid busing charge per student.
Paid busing charges shall not be eligible for a fee waiver. Failure to pay paid busing charges will result in the student’s removal from the bus route. Paid busing charges may be refunded (pro rata) only when students move within or dis-enroll from the District.
Bus Stops
Paid riders will be routed to the nearest existing bus stop. The bus will not be diverted to accommodate a paid rider; it must remain on its scheduled route to its eligible stops. Extra stops will not be added to accommodate a paid rider.
Application
- Parents can apply for paid busing by emailing transportation at transportation@bps101.net.
- Student fees that are not paid in full or not current on their district-established payment plan are restricted from participating in the Paid Transportation Program.
- Interest in paid busing must be made no later than the Friday before the first day of school. After this date, no further interest will be taken unless a student is new to the District or has moved and their bus eligibility has changed.
Paid busing is not guaranteed to begin on the first day of school, as the District’s priority is to route eligible students first. Paid busing will begin no later than the first day after Labor Day.