St. Charles School District 303 clarifying transportation policy

With few exceptions, St. Charles School District 303 plans to stick to its policy of not providing transportation to students who aren’t eligible to be bused.

The district is clarifying the language in the district’s transportation policy to make it less confusing. The issue was discussed during the School Board’s Policy Committee meeting on Monday.

District 303′s transportation policy states that a student who resides less than one and one-half miles from his or her assigned school by walking along normally traveled roads or streets is deemed to have adequate transportation and isn’t eligible for district-provided transportation. In accordance with board policy, students eligible for transportation are assigned to one bus route and one bus pick-up and drop-off location based on the student’s address.

Officials plan to clarify the district’s policy to say the district will consider providing transportation to and from a childcare provider if a family lives at least one and one-half miles from their child’s school. In addition, the location of the childcare provider has to fall within the boundary of the school that their child attends.

Free transportation service and vehicle adaptation is provided for a special education student if included in the student’s individualized educational program. In addition, transportation is provided for homeless students.

School Superintendent Paul Gordon said the district has had tried to accommodate families in the past who are facing different situations.

“It’s trying to work with families who maybe have a situation where the family is encountering a divorce situation where somebody lives in one home and somebody lives in another, both within the attendance zone,” Gordon said. “And it has caused some different issues. The board I believe has received at least two different emails from two families requesting that the board look at this policy again.”

Transportation Director Terry Primdahl told board members the district needs to stick to its policy for the safety of students.

“When we have a consistent address, five days a week, we know that we’re getting them from point A to point B,” Primdahl told school board members. “But when they have multiple locations, we can’t guarantee that. And for us, that’s an extreme safety issue.”

In addition, she said her department doesn’t have the staff to support dual addresses. The school district has 25 fewer bus drivers now than it did four or five years ago.

Board member Ed McNally said he knows the situation is not ideal.

“I do agree it’s a big dilemma,” he said. “We may have to monitor it more closely.”

School Board members plan to vote on clarifying the policy at their meeting on Oct. 11.