Schools

Elmhurst District 205 Wants to Know: How Do You Want to Pay the New Transportation Fee?

Four options are presented in an online survey delivered to parents last weekend.

Elmhurst Unit District 205 has launched an online survey to gauge parents' opinions on a new student bus fee.

In March, District 205 Board members for middle school and high school students participating in extracurricular activities and athletics, as well as for middle school students participating in band, orchestra and choir. On May 10, the District 205 administration put forth options to address the need to recoup transportation dollars and relieve the cost burden for families.

The  Scenarios range from a variety of fee payment structures to route reductions and a combination of the two.

Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to the district, the cost to operate the 21 early and late routes is about $208,000, and none of the cost is reimbursed by the state. State reimbursement of regular bus costs has eroded from 40 percent to 10 percent for fiscal year 2011-12. This translates to an additional $50,000 loss of revenue to District 205.

Parents of students enrolled in grades K-11 can only access the survey through an email sent to them by the district last weekend. This prevents individuals from taking the survey more than once and families outside the district from taking the survey.

Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Families have until midnight Friday, May 27, to take the survey. The results will be discussed at the June 14 Board of Education meeting.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here