Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district may offer bus ride for fee

For many students who live mere blocks from school, riding the bus is not an option in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district.

They live too close to qualify for free busing. So options include walking or hitching a ride from parents -- even if a school bus zooms right past the front door on its regular route.

That may change this fall if the school board approves a plan to give students another option: Bus service, for a fee.

The board is considering a proposal from administrators that would give students who don't qualify for free busing the option of paying $250 a year for the service. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches would pay $125 per year.

It's break-even pricing for the district, but a service that may come in handy for students who live near school, said Jeffrey Solomon, the district's finance and operations director. "Occasionally, we will get the request that they would like to ride anyway," he said.

The district already offers free busing to the vast majority of its 27,500 students, including some who live near school but would have to cross a hazardous road in order to walk, said Randy Dukek, the district's transportation coordinator. The new option would apply to about 2,200 students, he said.

If the board signs off on the plan this spring, the district will send letters outlining the new service to families who might want to purchase it.

The law allows districts to charge a busing fee for students who live within two miles of school, and a fair number of metro-area districts already do -- from Minnetonka to Lakeville -- according to information collected by the Rosemount district.

"I didn't realize how many districts do this," Superintendent Jane Berenz told the board on Monday.

In proposing the fee, administrators are also mindful of possible future cuts to busing, Solomon said. The district just approved $15.3 million in budget cuts, with more on the horizon in coming years, and some districts have already saved money by cutting free transportation beyond what's required by state law. If the Rosemount board has to trim busing services at some point, then a fee option will already be in place, he said.