I was in Catholic grade school in the 1950s and early 1960s. At my school there were no buses: We all walked to school, rode our bikes to school, or our parents drove us to school.
We were the beneficiary of your experience; the parents made a big stink about paying property taxes, while not utilizing the town’s education system. The town leaders set up a “bare bones” bus service for us, since the Catholic population produced a lot of voters.
Of course, I had to hike a half mile, to the bus stop, but by the time my younger siblings attended school, the bus stopped right in front of our house :)