Ann Arbor school district must make tough choices about future of busing
Ann Arbor school board members have appointed a working group to study transportation costs and services and make recommendations by early next year.
Jeffrey Smith | AnnArbor.com
For now, it appears the board is prepared to make about $5 million in cuts for 2012-13. The remainder of the deficit would be erased by tapping its fund balance for about $7 million, as well as bringing in about $6 million in new revenue.
The school board cannot continue to defer the kinds of deeper cuts that the administration keeps proposing - particularly in the area of bus transportation.
Such a strategic review of bus service is, if anything, well overdue. Transportation is a major cost for the district - about $5.6 million annually - that pulls dollars away from its core mission of instruction. That makes it an obvious target for budget-cutting. This is the second year in a row that the administration has asked for fairly radical reductions in bus service, and the board has balked, choosing lesser cuts instead that still leave parents unhappy without achieving the kinds of savings the district needs.
The working group, which will be appointed by Superintendent Patricia Green, will consider solutions as severe as eliminating bus service for high school students, or even eliminating it for all grade levels. These would be hard choices, but when it comes to the school budget, there are no easy choices left.
Given that an estimated 70 percent of high school students don’t use school buses, and given that we have an excellent public transportation system in the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (which will be represented on the working group), there ought to be possible solutions here that save money while addressing the transportation concerns of lower-income or single-parent families, as well as concerns about safety and traffic congestion if more kids are driving to school or being dropped off by parents.
Ann Arbor is a community filled with smart, involved parents and we are optimistic that a working committee with the right mix of representation can come up with workable recommendations. We think it’s particularly important that the work of this committee is wrapped up next January, as envisioned. One of the biggest miscues we’ve seen in recent years is attempting to plan and implement transportation changes over the summer, when schools are closed and parents are hard to reach and communicate with. Having a solid plan well before budget discussions begin, and well before school lets out, offers the best opportunity for good decisions and a smooth transition.
(This editorial was published in today's newspaper and reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board at AnnArbor.com.)
Comments
bgs
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 3:32 p.m.
Getting kids to school should be the responsibility of the parents and not the school. Bring your kids to school or take public transportation, like anywhere else in the world.
Stephen
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 7:47 p.m.
Close Community...sell the building to a public charter school and call it done. When you love something or someone you need to let it go.
A2workinmom
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 3:51 p.m.
Transportation is important. Yes, I'll keep lobbying Lansing to stop cutting school funds but I'm also wondering if a transportation millage is an option? As a community, can we find other ways to fund transportation?
A2Realilty
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 1:06 p.m.
Eliminating busing is a terrible idea. Is it really a reasonable suggestion to propose that a 5 or 6-year-old child ride a public transportation bus to school? Besides, the city will need to add buses and routes to handle that capacity within AATA... hello property tax increase to support this half-baked idea. The school board should consider redistricting all of the schools before it considers eliminating busing. Putting people closer to the schools will sacrifice some of its precious racial balancing, but it will decrease costs for the routes by making them shorter (lower maintenance costs, less driver time, less insurance costs).
anotherannarborite
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 4:33 a.m.
If bussing is cut, the attendance rate will suffer, and suffer for the lower income students, those who typically do not do as well as other students, at least in AAPS schools. BTW, right now, it's 1 1/2 miles for walkers, even for K-5. That means a 5 year old is expected to be able to walk 1 1/2 miles to and from school.
Jim Osborn
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:43 a.m.
Closing
Jim Osborn
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:42 a.m.
That is too far for a 5 year old, and why I am against clasing elementary schools.
Patricia Lesko
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 3:38 a.m.
You neglect to mention that $6 million per year of the projected deficit is the result of the construction of Skyline. Class sizes at Skyline are significantly smaller than at Huron and Pioneer, according to actual enrollment data released by District officials. Community and Roberto Clemente are not the cause of the District's structural deficit. Skyline is the cause. In financial retrospect, it should never have been built. It was a costly mistake. The folks in the community who tried to point that out, were absolutely right. Enrollment is the AAPS has fallen every year since 2005-2006 (http://www.a2schools.org/aaps/aaps.data0203/five_year_enrollment_projections). There are 200 FEWER high school students enrolled than in 2005-2006. Elementary enrollment is decreasing (http://www.a2schools.org/aaps/aaps.data0506/headcount_comparison). Skyline should be closed, the building sold, and the faculty given over to other high schools and middle schools to reduce classroom crowding which, at Community, Huron and Pioneer, hit 40+ students in English, science and math classes this year, according to data released by District officials in response to Freedom of Information Act requests (http://www.a2politico.com/2012/04/aaps-documents-reveal-middle-and-high-school-classes-have-40-students/). AAPS needs to put its monthly credit card (P-card) spending online. District officials also need to put its checkbook online. Dr. Green's absurd pronouncement that FOIA is the best way for parents to get information is only slightly less embarrassing and ridiculous than her pronouncement that she would "eliminate" the achievement gap. The Superintendent and the Board of Education need to eliminate the cause of the structural deficit, not continue to find money to keep feeding it.
say it plain
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 8:54 p.m.
Yes, I agree @local...Community can probably stay open and become "its own school", and then we'd save also the quarter million a year spent on the shuttles to take CHS students to the other high schools for stuff they should be forgoing given the choice they made about which school to attend. But I'm not sure that there is the political will and willingness to anger the parent population to even make *that* totally reasonable change happen! And if there is demand for the kinds of programs offered by Community, and we believe that AAPS is losing students because of it, then we should try our best to reproduce what people like about Community at the other high schools in town. It's too late to reconceptualize Skyline as the academic-focused school @DonBee points out there had been support for (so, how did the powers that be decide that we all need to continue living so deeply in the service of sports and such?!) perhaps, but we can try to require that the needs of *all* the kids in AAPS get met.
DonBee
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:08 p.m.
Ms. Lesko - Skyline as built was a mistake. The community forums indicated there was support for an academic high school - without the sports machine attached. More than 70% of the square footage of Skyline is devoted to varsity sports. More than 80% of the maintenance money goes to the same cause. The district built the best handicapped facilities in the county into the Skyline building, now the principal wants those students out of her building. Her coaches support her. The board is going to let it happen, those rooms, built at a very high cost will sit almost empty. AAPS continues to make DUMB decisions and hurt the very children they are supposed to be supporting. No administration members were harmed in the creation of this year's budget.
Jim Osborn
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:41 a.m.
Skyline is a big part of the budget shortfall. It should not have been built. The over crowding was a result of changing the high schools from 3-year high schools (grades 10-12) changing the jr high schools (grades 7-9_ into middle schools (grades 6-8) and then having a lot of under used elementary schools that suddenly lost 6th grade. Many were closed and are still leased to other groups to this day. The Jewish Center is one. Go-Like-The Wind Mont. School is another. This restructuring was done in the 1980s, partly for "racial balancing purposes, and is a direct cause of the two high schoold getting 33% more students. It is too late to close it now, though.
Basic Bob
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:32 a.m.
Skyline was a mistake, but it is one we must live with. You can't just close it or sell it. CHS should be closed. It would be a simple matter to move the 100 or so kids into each of their home schools, no attendance boundaries would need to be redrawn, fewer staff members to reassign. An extra 100 students in any of our high schools would not be noticed, since each was designed for growth that is not imminent. The land under the aging school building is valuable and should be returned to the tax rolls.
local
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:12 a.m.
Say it plain, you can't argue Community closing because those parents would be irate and the board would back down. I have no problem with Community staying open, but they need to be their own school. No athletics at the other high schools because you chose to send you child to Community. No extra classes, clubs, etc... at the other high schools. If you want Community, you get what Community offers. If that means no sports, or drama, or whatever, so be it.
say it plain
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 4:29 a.m.
Wait, how can closing a building reduce crowding?! You can make claims about class size, but you cannot deny that Pioneer and Huron were crammed with too many bodies for the respective *buildings*, student-teacher ratios notwithstanding. If a high school building is to be closed, the obvious choice is Community. Not that I'm arguing it should be, but it would for the redistribution of about a 100 bodies per class year among the three other schools, reduce overhead, and allow for the redistribution of faculty and staff in the most rational way.
Topher
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 11:57 p.m.
Part of me feels like this Onion article is coming true - money is now being funneled to big businesses in the hope that they set up (permanent) camp and create jobs. Maybe it will work, maybe it will not. Let's just have our students take online classes and start businesses to sell more stuff. Who needs an education when you can be a start-it-yourself-go-getter? http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-legislation-would-shut-down-us-education-syste,26381/
Basic Bob
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:22 a.m.
I have a job working for a small business. Work that could be done anywhere, but here it is in Michigan. I don't have to move out of state for work, and can continue living here, spending money, paying my taxes, and not abandoning my home to foreclosure. All that pays for schools and more.
DonBee
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 11:03 p.m.
Tony - Sorry , you missed a key point. There are families that live well outside the AATA route area and they will not see, even with the expanded routes, any reasonable choices for transportation. Many of these families are from the lowest income groups (They can't afford to live inside the city limits) with the worst vehicle reliability of all families and the riskiest roads for children to walk. AAPS could: 1) Zoning the district based on high school areas and staggering start times. Run 1 set of buses past each home outside the walk area (K-12) - by staggering the starts - 1/3 the buses and drivers would be needed. 2) Opening the school to children more than a few minutes before school starts and keeping it open for more than a few minutes after the day is over. This way parents who are stuck with one car can drop children off and get to work on time without leaving children in the rain, snow or freezing weather 3) Coordinate with AATA for places where the AATA runs buses. Like it or not, children with IEP's will get bus services - special education students have to be transported. That means that in most areas AAPS will have to run a bus anyway - given the percentage of IEP students the district has. So, elimination of high school transportation will NOT happen, since many high school students have IEPs. I suspect that the numbers of students with special education status will climb as parents work that angle to get transportation. This is a very poorly thought out situation, and the board needs to go back to the unreleased busing study and implement those savings first. They have had several years to look at the recommendations and act on them. There are other places to cut $3 million dollars that will have less impact on students, but then those are "safe" parts of the budget. I want to thank AnnArbor.Com for swallowing the administration position uncritically. Well done Tony! Well done!
DonBee
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 10:56 p.m.
Sallyxyz - Sorry, I would recommend you review the AAPS school district boundaries. Like so many people who live inside the city, you assume that anyone outside the city does not belong in AAPS. Yet they pay the same school taxes as people who live inside the city. Maybe you should ask the state for a redistricting, so that the school district lines match the city boundaries. Then every time the city changes boundaries, the school district can too. What fun that would be, and the district of course would lose hundreds of students.
Basic Bob
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:14 a.m.
@Sallyxyz, School boundaries are not city boundaries. People "outside the city limits" pay Ann Arbor school tax - all of the sinking funds, technology bonds, etc. The state gives Ann Arbor equal dollars for my kid and yours. AAPS can't afford to operate with 2/3 of the revenue it receives now. My kid rides the bus, except when it is too full for her to get her book bag and sports bag on, afternoon sports don't interfere, etc. The rest of the time we provide transportation at our own expense, by our choice. Even when she takes the bus, it is not a luxury service. It requires a 1/2 mile walk each way, 3 to a seat. Ann Arbor did not build any of their high schools for walk-ability. Try crossing Stadium, Huron Parkway, or M-14 during morning rush hour in the winter. You are likely to have some casualties. I would guess less than 5% of high school students walk to school.
Sallyxyz
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 1:22 a.m.
@DonBee says: "Sorry , you missed a key point. There are families that live well outside the AATA route area and they will not see, even with the expanded routes, any reasonable choices for transportation. Many of these families are from the lowest income groups (They can't afford to live inside the city limits) with the worst vehicle reliability of all families and the riskiest roads for children to walk." Maybe the families that live outside the city limits should attend schools closer to where they live. This is a no brainer. Where do we draw the lines? Bus every kid from all over Washtenaw county who wants to attend school in A2, regardless of the expense involved? I don't think so. It's much better for kids to attend schools in their neighborhoods, closer to where they live. Times are tough and AAPS does not have the luxury to provide door to door transportation for students outside the city limits.
David Paris
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 9:28 p.m.
Here's a tough choice: Keep busing, and increase revenues to meet demand. The intent otherwise, is to weaken the public school system in an effort to promote charter schools, home schooling, and parochial schools. Like that's going to make it all better! We have some of the best schools in the state here in Ann Arbor, and we're nickel & diming them to death, for no good reason. Save our schools, and we save our future!
tim
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 4:53 p.m.
Too many administrators in AAPS ( that's where the cutting should start). It cost a lot of money to live in A2, so with two parents working it is very difficult to get kids to school. Increase bussing don't cut it. Find other ways to save money or Ann Arbor schools will end up the worst bussing --- best funded school district in Washtenaw county.
Major
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 3:43 p.m.
Let the kids walk, good for em, kids have it way too easy these days. When I was in school I had to walk..uphill..both ways...in the snow...with no shoes...(tongue firmly planted in cheek)
greymom
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 3:07 p.m.
Let the truth be told- we need to close a Elementary School, a High School ( Clemente, Stone or Community)- we need to make upper management take a pay cut, not a pay raise. We need to stop being so wasteful! But the biggest thing thing is we need someone in office that will stop taking away money to educate our young people! Our kids are not getting all they need! They keep taking away from all departments- lets start with custodial they do every other day cleaning, do you really think that is healthy for anyone? Back in the day the custodial staff was able to do a much better job because they had a full staff, now Management wants you to do the same work with less people and they continue to add to the work load. As they build on to the buildings they don't take in consideration square footage anymore but rather dump it off on those that already are trying to do 10 hours of work in 8 hours. Why add a midnight shift and bring in another person to management, when they really didn't need to do that. We had midnights before, it didn't work. How about Counselors in the buildings- they keep taking them away and yet we are living in times that are more and more difficult for young people and they really need that support! How about nurses going between several buildings- now days we find more and more kids effected by many illnesses that require medical needs, and I find a nurse may get called for an urgent need at one building and they are having to leave another building to deal with another buildings needs. We could go on and on but I think you get the picture. We need to fight together and get the money back from government! It's about the kids, their future and ours- we need strong young people!
Jim Osborn
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:13 a.m.
Why close Northside? I generally support having nearby elementary schools for all.
Sallyxyz
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 1:26 a.m.
Merge Clemente and Stone, close Northside. Right there would generate a lot of savings. Administrators need pay CUTS not raises. Stop cutting teachers and therefore increasing class sizes. 30 students is far too many in elementary classrooms. Stop the flood of illegal students streaming into AAPS from surrounding districts who don't live in A2, and who fictitiously set up "uncles" and "cousins" with A2 addresses (and supposedly live with them, right) that no one verifies or checks.
J. A. Pieper
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 9:19 p.m.
How about the Balas building always having their air on at a nice comfortable setting, and their heat in the winter, while schools suffer? Hey, there are reasons some buildings have air conditioning, no windows to open, so there is no flow of any air. The students are miserable and teachers are criticized for having a fan, it adds to the use/cost of electricity!
grimmk
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 7:20 p.m.
Yes, closing a school is always such a good idea. Let's deprive our kids ever more! :(
dswan
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 2:25 p.m.
Even if the district were to cut all transportation, at a savings of $5.6 million, and we're planning to see a "similarly large deficit again at this time next year," it's not enough to bring our expenses into sustainable territory. The only option for sustainability is real cuts to salaries and benefits for teachers and administrators. Yet, this doesn't appear to be part of the discussion on any level. I for one can't wait to see the Actual vs. Budgeted numbers for that $6 million in additional revenue come next year.
48104
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 2:23 p.m.
How is the core mission of instruction going to be met if kids cannot get to school? Ann Arbor Public Schools does not serve a bunch of families with stay-at-home moms and two cars. I don't think any district does. The area has spread out through a bunch of subdivisions out in the back of beyond and those kids need to get to school, too. I'd say transportation is much more core than some of the explosion of administration.
Sallyxyz
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 1:29 a.m.
The whole boundary issue needs to be looked at. There are some students on the far west side of the township that are closer to Dexter schools, yet are bused to AAPS. Makes no sense.
Jim Osborn
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 1:30 p.m.
And don't "solve" the probem by cutting driver pay, and then giving Superintendent Patricia Green a big raise or bonus.
Jim Osborn
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 1:13 p.m.
This editorial is correct in that there is much savings that can be achieved from transportation costs. What is scary are proposals such as "solutions as severe as eliminating bus service for high school students, or even eliminating it for all grade levels." Instead, the board should try a novel approach, what is a reasonable distance and amount of time for a kid to walk to school, and their age. This depends upon where each child lives, of course, the distance from the school, and proximity to any Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (The Ride) buses. I've noticed that the buses attempt to provide door-to-door service, which is costly and ridiculous. When I lived in a Pittsfield Twp Apartment, a bus would pull into the driveway, and then drive around the buildings to drop off kids. These same kids would walk around the same route, so why could they not meet the bus at the junction of the driveway and the street? If the buses has less complex routes, and kids had to walk to reach common bus stops, much fuel, time and money would be saved. When I was a child, all children walked to school, up to a ¾ of a mile. For middle school / Jr. High, which was up to 3 miles away, bus service was provided, but kids had to walk up to ¼ of a mile or so to get to the bus stop. At this bus stop, there were usually 30 to 40 children waiting This same bus also served the high school, stopping along the way, but very, very few kids of that age used it since it was not "cool" to do so. But it was available. We also had to pay, $1.50 a day in today's money, so many kids walked home, which was downhill, both for the exercise, the fun, and to collect the spending money. The door-to-door bus service needs to end, but do not end all bus service, unless it duplicated Ann Arbor Transportation Authority bus service, for older children.
Sarah
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:40 a.m.
My child's bus only makes two stops and we walk a 1/2 mile to get her to her stop, which serves both our condo community and the neighboring apartment complex. Approximately 20-25 children are at the stop on any given day.
48104
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 2:24 p.m.
What door-to-door bus service? My second grader walks almost a half mile to his school bus stop.
ChrisW
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 1:48 p.m.
They've already done this in most places. My daughter's bus makes 2 or 3 stops total now, compared to about 10 before. Doesn't seem to save much money - it's not like they pay by the stop.
A2anon
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 12:54 p.m.
Hmmmm. How bout Lansing stepping up to the plate and adequately funding our schools? How bout giving back the money Snyder stole from the School Aid Fund totally violating the agreement with taxpayers made with the passage of Prop A? How bout that?
Chris
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 4:20 p.m.
How about both things happen - the board needs to make the call on cuts AND the state needs to quick stealing money from K-12.
A2anon
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 2:59 p.m.
No, Sonny. That's not what I recommend. But I do feel that any analysis of cuts that need to be made in the AAPS tells less than half the story by omitting the source of the massive ongoing deficit we face, which is all in the hands of the state. People need to know where to direct their anger and their votes.
SonnyDog09
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 2:28 p.m.
So, instead of facing reality and making hard choices, you recommend that the board put their heads in the sand and hope that uncle sugar will drop by with a big wad of cash? Is that your cunning plan? I thought Ann Arbor was a smart town?
local
Sun, Jun 3, 2012 : 12:03 p.m.
Tony , great editorial, but your last paragraph sums it all up. Yes, AAPS has many great and involved parents and whenever something those parents believe in is a proposed cut, they get involved. Our board has yet to make a tough decision when it comes to the budget. They are cutting small things here and there, but the BIG cuts have yet to be made and at some point, are going to need to be made. Case in point, closing one of our alternative high schools and moving it to another building. The district wasn't recommending closing the program, just moving it. Parents got in an uproar and the board and district backed down. At this point, AAPS is basically stuck because some tough decisions are going to need to be made and they are going to hear from those families they are affecting. Will they have the ability to make the decision with parents upset with them?
local
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:05 a.m.
sally, I agree with you totally. I was trying to make that point in my comments. The AAPS board can't make these tough calls because of the PC area/world we live in.
Sallyxyz
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 1:31 a.m.
"Will they have the ability to make the decision with parents upset with them?" No, AAPS operates in PC mode: do what is politically correct regardless of reality, and above all else, don't rile the parents, they might sue. You can't move a district forward if you are only playing defense.