SYRACUSE - Seven options for changes in Wawasee School Corp.'s busing policy were presented before the school board Tuesday night.

Options 1 and 2 were chosen by the board for further study.

Under option 1, the school board could identify specific locations or neighborhoods in which group bus stops would be determined. A priority for picking areas would center around safety areas.

Option 2 would run a series of bus routes for elementary students only. The bus would take them to school, drop them off and then the same bus drivers would go back out and run double routes over the same areas and pick up middle and high school students.

Wawasee Superintendent Dr. Mark Stock presented the busing information to the school corporation by beginning with the current board policies that affect transportation.

Under current policy any student living outside town limits will be transported to the school in their attendance district. It is reasonable to expect students to walk one mile or less to an established bus center, from which they will be provided bus transportation, according to the policy.

Board policy 9.551 states that transportation only is provided for eligible students to and from their designated bus stop. However, should a family have a unique situation that necessitates deviation from normal transportation arrangements, they may request the needed change in writing to the school principal. The conditions that must exist for a change include an unusual or emergency situation and available seats on the requested bus.

Attendance boundaries are established by board action under policy 9.12. Attendance at a school different from the attendance boundary may occur only by special permission, and parents requesting it must file a request form in Stock's office. The decision of the superintendent is final and transportation shall be furnished by the parent if permission for such an attendance change is granted.

Perhaps the most important fact affecting bus routing, Stock said, is the transportation figures for each school. "This is the current picture of the bus routing," said Stock.

Enrollment at each of Wawasee School Corp.'s schools and the number of bus riders on count day are: Syracuse Elementary, 559 students, 365 bus riders (65 percent); Milford School, 680, 431 bus riders (63 percent); North Webster Elementary, 581, 478 bus riders (82 percent); Wawasee Middle School, 594, 470 bus riders (79 percent); and Wawasee High School, 1,028 students, 308 bus riders (30 percent).

The number of walkers are 101 (18 percent) at Syracuse Elementary and 174 (26 percent) for Milford School. Due to the locationsof the schools, there are no walkers to North Webster or WMS. The number of walkers to the high school is unknown.

The number of riders getting to school some way other than bus and walking are: Syracuse, 93 (17 percent); Milford, 75 (11 percent); North Webster, 103 (18 percent); WMS, 124 (21 percent); and WHS, 193 (19 percent). Of the 1,028 WHS students, 527 (51 percent) have parking permits.

Syracuse uses seven buses for transportation, eight for Milford, eight for North Webster and WMS and WHS share 19. The average number of students per bus is 58 per bus at Syracuse; 54, Milford; 60, North Webster; 26, WMS; 17, WHS.

Both of the options the board chose to further have pros and cons. The pros for option 1 include that this is what the school corporation is doing in North Webster and it is working there. Also, the option is affordable. The drawback of option 1 is the unpredictability of it. If even half of the individuals who are within the walking distance decided to take advantage of it, the buses would be overloaded and unable to continue.

The biggest benefit for option 2 is that fewer bus drivers are needed with fewer bus routes. The drawbacks include the disruption of many people and schedules. All full-time drivers would be needed because it would be virtually a full-day routine.

Forty-two of the approximate 57 buses the school corporation has in its fleet are used for bus routes. The remaining 15 are used for athletics, field trips and extracurricular activities.

By the December meeting, Stock told the board he will have more information on the two options the board selected for further study.

In other business, the school board:

• Accepted a $1,000 donation from Kristi Harris to the Wawasee Academy in honor of Harris' father, Tom E. Boyer, and a $1,000 donation from the Dollar General Corp. for the academy.

• Approved the renewal of the annual Head Start lease to allow Head Start to use one classroom in the North Webster Elementary School building.

• Approved to advertise to receive bids for a rooftop unit at Wawasee High School.

• Held the second reading of the school board's policy on the rainy day fund. The fund may receive transfers of unused and unencumbered monies from other funds raised by a general or special tax levy. Such transfers cannot exceed 10 percent of the total budget of the school corporation for the fiscal year in which the transfer occurs.

The board also decided the money in the fund can be used for "any purpose deemed relevant by the school board."

Board member Jeff Wells said allowing the funds to be used for any purpose will make the fund more flexible in its use for future boards. Any use of the funds will have to be approved at an open public school board meeting. [[In-content Ad]]