At their most recent meeting, the Mid-Prairie School Board had the first reading of a policy on discretionary busing, which would help the district save money. Discretionary busing refers to any child being transported by school bus that the school isn’t legally required to accommodate. This includes children who live within the city limits of the school they attend, kids that occasionally ride the bus to a grandparent’s or childcare provider’s house, or groups of children taking the bus to another child’s house for sleepovers. Superintendent Mark Schneider says the new policy would still allow children to be transported using the school bus in those ways, but for a fee.

Schneider explains, with current state funding being below what schools need, the board has looked at alternative ways to save money. Free discretionary busing has been something they’ve provided in the past, but he says it’s also something they’re not required by law to provide. Schneider anticipates some push back, saying, “Any time you provide a service that is convenient, and you take away that convenience, obviously that is going to be met with some resistance. My ideal situation is that the legislature and the governor would give school districts ample resources, so that we could continue to provide all the services that we’re currently doing. But that’s not possible when the squeeze is being put on the school districts.” The board will have a second reading of the policy at their January 23rd meeting. If they adopt the policy and parents have complaints about it, Schneider suggests they contact the legislature.