New look given to school bus plan

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003 | 9:18 a.m.

Plans by Clark County School District officials to put Rancho High School students on city buses may be scrapped following fierce opposition from parents at Nellis Air Force Base.

Richard Ennes, the School District's business manager, said a pilot program using Citizen Area Transit buses for Rancho and Valley High School students was slated to begin Feb. 3 and could have saved as much as $90,000 a year. District and Nellis officials planned to meet this afternoon to discuss the proposal, Ennes said.

"They're quite concerned about safety, especially with everything going on out there right now," Ennes said this morning. "We are willing to listen to those concerns, and if we cannot overcome them we won't implement the pilot program."

Valley Principal Ronald Montoya said he was resigned to accepting the switch in bus routes in light of the district's ongoing budget woes.

"The Legislature better pass a tax bill that supports education because this is just the tip of the iceberg on cutbacks," Montoya said. "The district doesn't have the money it needs for the most basic of services, and now it's hurting kids."

The proposed switch would involve about 760 students at the two high schools, Ennes said. Special education and magnet program students would be exempt.

Many larger school districts -- including Los Angeles -- use public transportation for high school students, he said.

Rancho Principal Robert Chesto said he has heard from dozens of parents upset about the proposed switch to public transportation. They are worried about attendance and truancy as well as safety, Chesto said.

"When you get on a school bus, it picks you up at point A, takes you to point B and then goes away," Chesto said. "CAT buses go all over the place."

The good side of that, he said, is that "With a CAT pass they can go to the public library or come back to school at night for a dance."

One solution could be using school buses for the morning routes and CAT in the afternoon, Chesto said.

"There may be a solution in this, and it may be that our parents will be in favor of it once they're given the opportunity to be involved in the planning," Chesto said.

The district's transportation budget was slated for cuts last spring when officials faced a $12.6 million shortfall. Plans to expand the radius for qualifying for high school bus services from two to three miles were scrapped following significant parental opposition, Ennes said.