A Special 60K: Grant Funds Come in Different Shapes and Sizes for School Transportation

By Ryan Gray

While not for yellow bus service, a Michigan middle school is using some of a large pot of grant money bestowed by the foundation named for the founder of Kellogg's cereals to fund a new computer lab that will assist students in purchasing transit bus passes. I know what many of you might be saying: "Well, it sure would be nice if the district's school transportation received its share." I don't portend to know the answer, but I would respond, "Did it even try?"

It's cliched, but you definitely don't get what you don't ask for. It's true in love, in life and certainly school transportation. Gardner Middle School in Lansing apparently asked and received, as it was awarded $60,000 for the computer lab through the end of next school year. In addition to enabling students to buy passes from the Capital Area Transportation Authority, the grant also includes an after-school snack program, stipends for two teachers and two student scholarships.

As you are likely well aware, school transportation is vital to getting children in their classroom seat, and, if successful, schools stand to gain dearly. Attendance is tied to adequate yearly progress, and all states are watching carefully especially in these lean economic times. It just so happens that last month Lansing School District announced that 31 of its 33 schools earned AYP recognition from the state department of education.

It wasn't immediately known what role, if any, Lansing's school transportation department had in administering the funds. Here's hoping it had a say. Just like with the federal Safe Routes to School Program, there is plenty of money that in one way or another can benefit school transportation coffers, that is if you just know where to look for it and can connect the dots back to your department. Decisions on how to use the money should incorporate the feedback of the experts in how to safely and efficiently move children from home to school and back each day.

Budget Pains Continue for Transportation for Seattle

As if the economy hasn’t hit school transportation coffers hard enough this year, the news outlets reported last week that 10,000 students in the Seattle, Bellevue, Washington and Lake Mercer school districts could see their mass transit passes affected by 33 percent fare increases from the King County metro system.

Does such a move make sense in today’s economy?

The state has been working for a couple of years on reformulating school transportation funding. The article says state officials are hoping to be able to fully fund their service “and make cost increases like this disappear — but when that will happen is uncertain.

It’s an interesting move from the transit provider despite tens of billions of dollars in stimulus funds this year. But, more and more mass transit systems are turning to fare hikes to curb their own budget deficits caused by rising unemployment. There have been comments for a while now that mass transit should be doing the opposite, namely lowering fares to provide relief to those struggling financially. As a result, ridership could skyrocket.

Back to School a Time to Recall Security

By Ryan Gray

No mention of school transportation is made in an article in the Aug. 9 issue of Parade magazine discussed a way of life many commuters know all too well: mass transit as a terror target. Still, mass transit has recieved $400 million last year to use on security initiatives, a figure the American Public Transportation Association points out is less than 2 percent of the money spent on airline security since 9/11.

Meanwhile, school transportation has received about $7 million in federal funds over the past five or six years total, and most of that money has gone to clean diesel initiatives, according to American School Bus Council members this week, this despite boasting about 10 billion individual students rides each school year, about the same number of riders that APTA says utilize mass transit annually.

Still, as schools start up again, safety and security is a common theme in newspaper articles and TV news segments around the country. But few will talk about terrorism. True, there has yet to be a catastrophic incident involving mass transit or school buses in this country, but the Transportation Security Administration reported 171 mass-transit incidents worldwide in 2007. Public transportation in general remains a soft target for terrorists, yet the funding pales in comparison to what airlines have received since 9/11, about $20 trillion.

Hopefully it won't take another 9/11 to change things.

Update: Yesterday, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $1.2 billion in additional federal stimulus grants to transit that will in part address increased security. There has been no such funds for school transportation. The only stimulus money schools have been eligible for regarding transportation services was $156 million earlier this year tied to the National Clean Diesel Campaign.