Parents Outraged by New Activity Bus Fee

Some Elmhurst District 205 parents may be in for a surprise when they register their middle school and high school students for the next school year. Not only will students pay an increased fee for participating in athletics, music and art programs, but they must also pay for their transportation.

District 205 will charge $165 per student per semester to ride the “early” bus to school in the morning or the “late” bus home. Parents attending a recent Parent Teacher Student Association meeting at York High School were stunned to hear that the administration had put through such a surcharge.

There are a lot of questions and confusion as to how this fee came about, said Margaret Harrell, PTSA member.

“I understand that our district is facing incredible financial issues," she told School Board members Tuesday night. "I participated in the EEPRT [Elmhurst Educational Program Review Technique] process. We ranked the areas we thought could be most affected by a decrease. Transportation was certainly one of them.”

But when the cut was agreed upon, she said the added transportation fee for clubs or athletics was not discussed. Harrell reviewed her notes from the EEPRT meetings. She said the fee had evidently been added later.

As a parent of two York students who play basketball and run track, Harrell said the net increase for participating in these activities has gone from zero to $900. The bus fee alone accounts for a good portion of that increase, she said. 

“I know it’s worth it,” she said after the April 20 PTSA meeting. “But now it’s up to me to make it work.”

If the activity bus fees were not part of EEPRT, then the board didn’t have any data on which to base its decision, such as how many students actually ride the early or late buses, she said. Some students might ride it once, say for a detention. Others might ride it several times for a club or athletics, she said. Will all riders pay the same fee?

“Try to help me understand this increase,” Harrell said. “Why do we have to have increased fees on top of budget cuts?”

According to Pat Masterton, assistant superintendent for finance, the board asked the administration to seek out any and all viable ways to make reductions or to enhance revenue, even those outside the EEPRT process.

“At the Feb. 22 Board of Education meeting, the board directed the administration to explore additional cuts and ‘cost recovery’ measures beyond what was brought forth by the EEPRT process,” Masterton said. “Data regarding the buses was collected outside of the EEPRT process.”

But the main reason the administration took a second look at transportation costs is that the state of Illinois drastically cut “regular and special education” transportation funding between the time the EEPRT reports were submitted and the time the board make its final decision on the budget cuts. The state does not reimburse the district for the cost of buses for field trips, student competitions, band and orchestra or athletics.

“Current low fund balances and the cost of [more than] $200,000 to run the activity and band buses added to our decision,” she said. “We did not meet our budget target without the $50,000 cost reduction from these fees.”

The district runs 21 one-way activity buses at a cost of $9,900 a year each, for a total annual cost of $207,900.

“The attempt was to implement a cost-recovery plan that represented approximately 25 percent of expenditures based on an average of 30 students per bus," she said.

“The Board of Education understood that the late bus is not a mandated transportation requirement. Many school districts have or have gone to a fee to ensure that the late bus is still available, while others have simply dropped the late bus. Our answer to the problem was to go the fee route.”

Harrell said she’s most concerned with the tough choices parents will have to make when it comes to clubs and sports. She asked the board to review the impact the new fee will have on the community.

“Unless there are transportation alternatives, then participation will suffer,” she said last week. “If students aren’t participating in middle school, then they’re less likely to participate in high school. They won’t be riding the activity buses, so the district won’t make its revenue anyway.”

The York PTSA has established a committee to help York students in financial need find solutions to deal with the new athletic and activity fees. Deb Webb, a member of the York Athletic Boosters, the York Advisory Team and the PTSA, agreed to chair the committee.

“My concern is helping students who are financially unable to participate in extracurricular activities,” she said. “We need to help those families in a way which is not embarrassing for any of them.”

Superintendent Lynn Krizic also reported at Tuesday’s board meeting that the administration is looking at payment options for students who do not ride the activity buses on a regular basis, such a 10-ticket package.  She said these potential payment options will be discussed at the May 10 board meeting.