Budget shortfall ends Edinburgh school bus route

Daily Journal of Johnson County

About 30 to 40 Edinburgh students now have to arrange their own way to school.

The school district lost $10,000 in its transportation fund because of declining revenue, forcing the school district to eliminate one of its four bus routes, Superintendent Rich Arkanoff said.

Edinburgh no longer picks up students who live within about a mile of the elementary school or the high school, Arkanoff said. Those students either will have to walk to and from school or be picked up and dropped off.

Two buses were rerouted to pick up about 45 students who rode on the bus that was taken out of service. Those students live more than a mile from school. The third bus picks up special-needs students.

"It's unfortunate that we had to cancel the route, and some parents were certainly upset; but we've been hit hard by the tax cap and our lower assessed evaluation," he said. "We just don't have the money, so we have to make cuts where we can."

Parents have called to complain, and Arkanoff has explained that budgetary issues forced the district to make a tough decision. The school district tried to make sure the route elimination affected a minimum number of students and only those who live a short distance from the schools, he said.

Providing bus transportation is not mandatory but is a service most districts provide. Indiana requires only that the school district send buses to pick up and drop off students with special needs.

Canceling the route saved the school district an estimated $15,000 between labor and fuel costs. The route's driver retired in May, and his position was not filled, Arkanoff said. The bus will remain in the district's fleet of eight buses in case other buses break down or require maintenance. Reinstating the bus route in the future is doubtful because it's unlikely the money would be there to pay for it.

Edinburgh has been forced to make other cuts because tax caps have reduced the amount of revenue coming in and the assessed valuation in the school district fell by about $10 million, Arkanoff said.

The school district laid off two teachers, a classroom assistant and custodian.