District cuts roundtrip buses for sports
September 23, 2009
By Laura Geggel
With his 16-year-old son Morgan driving, Snoqualmie Valley School Board member Dan Popp didn’t think he would get a last minute call from his son asking for a ride.Morgan, a junior on the Mount Si High School Boys’ Tennis team, had a match on Mercer Island and no way to get home.
This year, all middle and high school students will have to make sure they have a ride home after away games. In a measure to cut costs, the Snoqualmie Valley School District has done away with roundtrip transportation for middle and high school sports.
Until now, the district paid for bus drivers’ layover time, the hours spent waiting for games to finish before driving students home to Snoqualmie Valley. Now, buses drivers transport students to games, while parents and coaches provide the return transportation.
The cuts will save the district approximately 30 percent in transportation costs to these programs, Snoqualmie Valley School District Deputy Superintendent Don McConkey said. The district will save about $8,000 at the middle school level and about twice that at the high school.
Buses will only provide return transportation if the game is immediately canceled due to inclement weather.
Mount Si High School Athletic Director Greg Hart said some sport teams were still adjusting to the changes. At the beginning of the year, student athletes were given forms asking their parents whom they could ride with returning from an away game.
Students are not allowed to drive themselves either to or from games, according to Mount Si policy. Hart said this policy was on par with most high schools.
“It’s pretty much standard practice students are not allowed to drive,” Hart said.
Only teams with large equipment, such as football and track, will be allowed buses. The district will pay $1,500 for the varsity football team to have one roundtrip bus for the whole season.
“The current plan is to make up the $1,500 through anticipated increases in football gate receipts, and if we fall short, incur the rest through one of the ASB accounts,” Hart said.
As far as other teams needing return buses, “We’re going to have to look at the program as we go through it to see what are some of the challenges,” McConkey said.
Mount Si sophomore varsity tennis player Dane Aldrich called the one-way busing “inconvenient,” but not impossible.
“We just have to make sure we have a ride,” Aldrich said. “If my parents can’t come, I’ll catch a ride with another dad.”
Although it requires more driving on their behalf, some parents didn’t mind the new policy.
“I’d rather have them cut that than increase classroom size,” Mount Si parent Teresa Bolves said.
Mount Si High School cross-country coach Art Galloway said the policy has increased parent participation and, in turn, increased rapport.
“The nice outcome is parents have to pick their kids up, so we’re seeing a lot more parents at the meets,” Galloway said.
Still, arranging rides for all of his runners can be hectic.
“I noticed that things are a little more scattered because before people would go together, but now everybody has their own transportation,” Galloway said.
Time will tell how the policy affects middle school sports teams. The middle school sports season is just beginning, and Snoqualmie Middle School Principal Vernie Newell said parent volunteers should be able to fill the gap.
“I believe the parents are able to step in and support the middle school programs by supporting transportation because we no longer have it,” Newell said.
Many parents were happy the district restored the activity bus from Monday through Thursday, Newell added. Originally, the district had planned to save $50,000 by eliminating the activity bus, but later reinstated the service.
School administrators thanked parents for helping ferry students like Morgan Popp back from their games.
“I know that it’s an extra responsibility that they have, and I really appreciate the work they’re doing,” Hart said.
Laura Geggel: 392-6434 ext. 221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
Comments
Got something to say?
Before you comment, please note:
- These comments are moderated.
- Comments should be relevant to the topic at hand and contribute to its discussion.
- Personal attacks and/or excessive profanity will not be tolerated and such comments will not be approved.
- This is not your personal chat room or forum, so please stay on topic.
