Posted on 08/13/2024 9:33:35 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Southlake's Carroll Independent School District headed back to class on Tuesday, and for some students, it cost a little extra.
Carroll this year raised the price of its school bus pass to $350 for the full year, or $205 for the fall semester, per student. Family pass prices were set at $730 for the full year or $415 for the fall semester.
While Carroll offered a discounted rate if passes were purchased before July 17 -- $325 for the year, $180 for the semester, per student, and $705 for the year or $390 for the semester, per family -- the prices were an uptick from last year.
The early-purchase discounted rates for 2023-24 were $290 for the year and $156 for the semester, per student, and $605 and $312, per family. The full rates (purchased Aug. 1 or later) were $315 for the year and $168 for the semester, per student, and $630 and $341, per family.
Carroll's bus pass program is certainly rare in North Texas, where most districts offer free transportation to students who live at least two miles from their school. Some districts, like the Plano Independent School District, offer busing for students who live less than two miles from school for a fee -- in Plano's case, $500 per year. But any district that takes money from the state for transportation services, known in budgetary terms as an "allotment," is required to provide transportation for students who live outside that two-mile radius of the school.
Carroll has long funded its bus services through the pass program.
Community Impact, which covers Southlake and other North Texas communities, last year reported on Carroll considering raising the price of its bus passes.
According to district data obtained by Community Impact, Carroll brought in $856,191 in bus pass sales for the 2022-2023 school year, with around 3,800 passes sold.
Like all districts in Texas, Carroll must provide free transportation for "special-program students" who may have a disability or require specialized transportation to school.
They never charged me when riding the short bus.
School busses are a waste of taxpayer dollars unless you are in a very rural area. Parents should foot the bill if they can’t drive their kids to school or their kids can’t bike.
They don’t want to pay for the school bus ride? Whadda they think they are? Illegal aliens? Ukrainians? America’s don’t get things unless they pay!
I honestly did not know that there were states where students were charged to ride the bus to school. I guess it all depends on how much the school taxes are.
A local elementary school was built 3 miles outside of town because someone donated the land for a school to be built.
Great. Now the kids have to be bussed in. And parents that drive them in and out create traffic jams twice a day.
I live in a very remote community. Mostly retired folks. But those families with kids have a one hour bus ride each way every day.
My grandniece is fortunate in that her bus ride only takes about 10 minutes, each way. She lives only 2.5 miles from the school, but it would be too dangerous to walk or ride a bicycle. The roads here are narrow, with minimal shoulders, and speed limit most of the way is 55 mph.
Here in Oregon the school buses are “free”. Schools are paid for by federal and state funding, plus local property taxes.
I would hope they don’t charge property taxes there.
Zactly my first thought...
When I was growing up, you didn’t have to pay anything for public school beyond what taxes covered. (Of course, you brought or paid for your lunch.)
Now, parents are given lists of all kinds of supplies that they have to provide for the school year.
Where is all the money going?
What? School taxes aren’t enough?
Most of the school budgets is for perks and bennies and *administrative costs.*
Cut out the crap and there’s be plenty for the kids.
But nobody employed by the school wants to give up their cush retirement packages.
The state takes a huge chunk of the local property taxes and splits it between the rural districts (because you don’t want to make the big rural landowners pay their fair share) and the poor urban districts.
The Texas Supreme court ruled that local taxes were state money that had to be divided equally because the State Supreme Court justices are politicians that apparently don’t know the difference between local funds and state funds.
That’s crazy
Those SEC sized high school stadiums high dollar
If you home-school, bus passes are a lot cheaper.
It’s not a money issue, never is.
It’s a “lets spend the budget on CRT, cross dressers, illegals, & teacher raises” and cut traditional school services like teaching real subjects, music, sports, shop class and school busses, then blame the students and their parents when we raise their taxes again. If they object, then they pay double and we get to call them all racists.
EXACTLY!!!!!!
It’s the same old story everywhere and has been for years.
There’s nothing new under the sun.
Back in the 90’s I knew a former school superintendent of a small district and he and his wife who was a nurse at the school, got themselves and their friends high paying jobs for the last few years of their work career. This couple retired on $100,000 combined RETIREMENT income.
At that time mr. mm was working a regular decent paying job full time and supporting a family of 5 on 50K.
Meanwhile, they did the snowbird thing and supported their vacation home in FL.
And people wonder why school taxes are so high. Extortionate income for positions that could give 100K retirement to a couple.
An hour each way for 3 miles? Everyone driving 3 mph, are they?
The kids from town have to be bussed in. I don't live in town. In fact I live in a different county where it really does take 45 minutes from my area to a different school in my county. Add in multiple school bus stops and there ya have it. An hour each way.
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