Dec. 15, 2009 — Susanville School District bus routes are set to change on Monday, Feb. 8, after the board of trustees approved further reducing bus routes from six to four and enforcing no transportation zones for students living within one mile of their school.    

The changes were approved during a special Wednesday, Dec. 9 board meeting to help reduce transportation costs and encroachment on the school’s general fund. The district had already notified the Lassen Union High School District it would be reducing its routes to six routes, but will have to re-notify the district of further changes. The transportation changes will also be used for next year.

SSD Superintendent Gary McIntire said students in the Lake Forest and Eagle Lake areas can still use bus services as SSD shares the route with Lassen High School. However, he said bus services will only be provided within the city limits in the morning and afternoon and only to students who do not live within one mile of the school.    

Parents of students living in the Susan Hills area or on the south end of Sierra Road will have to arrange transportation for their child or drop them off at the nearest bus stop, which have not yet been determined, McIntire said.            

Per SSD’s board policy, bus transportation is not provided for students in the kindergarten through third-grades who live within three quarters of a mile of the school. Services are not provided for students in fourth-through-sixth-grades who live within one-mile of the school.    

McIntire said the policy has not been vigorously enforced, but at the recent meeting, the  board combined the no-transportation zone mileage for students in kindergarten through eighth-grade living within one mile of their school.    

Currently, the Meadow View School campus on Paiute Lane houses students in the fourth-eighth grades, while students in the kindergarten through third-grades are at the McKinley School campus on Fourth Street.     

The Diamond View campus on Richmond Road has been closed since spring 2008, but is set to reopen in the fall 2010 after it has been remodeled.    

McIntire said  a straight-line radius within the school will determine the no-transportation zone.    

SSD is part of a transportation program utilized by six county schools. LUHSD is the lead on the program as it provides the buses and bus drivers.    

School districts in Lassen County started looking at transportation services after the state was looking at cutting funding for home-to-school transportation. Many districts cut out routes by streamlining services.    

During its special meeting, the board did not approve a contract with LUHSD, as changes  are being made. 

In the non-revised contract, SSD costs increased from $16,699 to $25,153. The district receives $94,000 a year for home-to-school transportation and the contract would call for more than $250,000 a year, resulting in a huge encroachment on the school’s general fund.   

However, McIntire said LUHSD will be re-casting the monthly figures downward by not using September as the base month.    

He said using September as the base month caused the calculation for the whole system to be higher than it should have been.    

McIntire said SSD’s Chief Business Officer also found and shared with the transportation director that the schools share more routes than was assumed when the total costs were calculated.    

He said it is anticipated the new transportation contract will be based on a monthly amount less than $25,153 per month.