By DENISE KATZ
For The Beachcomber
The Vashon Island School District’s Bus Ridership Week is Sept. 29 through Oct. 3. This annual statewide count of students who ride the bus is a very important source of funding for our schools.
The state does not simply give us money for each student enrolled; it funds buses based on a complex formula of bus counts for this one week.
Our district will receive somewhere between $400 and $450 per student based on the number of children at the stop each day and the distance, as the crow flies, from the bus stop to the school.
Last year our district’s transportation costs were $697,521. The amount of revenue generated by our ridership count was $498,193. The resulting shortfall of $199,327 was made up by our levy funds — money that should, for example, go toward teacher salaries, classroom supplies, curriculum and maintenance budgets.
What’s more, the school district is down in enrollment this year, which translates into fewer dollars from the state. Specifically, the school district has 29 fewer students, a projected net loss of approximately $150,000.
With this information, you can see how important it is to have all of your children ride the bus during Bus Ridership Week. Almost every student in our district uses the school bus at least once per year, whether it is mornings, afternoons, field trips, sports, band, debate, knowledge competitions, clubs or other activities.
For our students to be counted, please have every student who uses school bus transportation during the school year ride the bus from the same bus stop all five mornings to school.
The high school, middle school and elementary students will all be counted in the mornings only. The afternoon kindergarten and preschool children will be counted on the way to school each afternoon.
We are still in need of volunteers to ride the buses and help with the count. If you are interested in helping, sign up to ride a route at the PTSA Web site — www.vashonptsa.org — or e-mail Donna Zaglin at donnazaglin@aol.com or Deb Cain at debcain@johnlscott.com.
Every family has an opportunity to contribute to our resources for education with this one simple act.
— Denise Katz is president of the Vashon PTSA.
