83 replies to this topic

[EDF]

When was this?

I see you have the "Obama" schticker on your posts...

are you really going to vote for that light weight...?

You have to be much smarter than that don't you...?

by the way... I'm not a big fan of McCain either, but if you vote for Barry, he's gonna raise taxes and if you are a soon to be single mom... he's going to make it harder for you to raise your little darlings...?

did you think of that...?

[supermom]

I'm not familiar with the Folsom/Cordova District, but for El Dorado Union High School District, I pay $220 a year for my son to ride the bus each year. Are the bus fees in Folsom comparable?

$260 for 1 kid

or $500 for 2 kids

[tessieca]

First, the HS transportation issue will probably be resolved at the next board meeting as they have found alternative ways to reduce transportation costs that might enable retaining most high school routes. Some will be combined, and some with too few riders will be eliminated. There are other pieces of the proposed alternative plan, but the pieces appear to add up to a similar dollar savings.

bikes are a great idea, but my daughter would hate me for making her ride her bike to Vista on top of the hill... sure the ride home would be great, but the school is perched on top of a very steep incline

no girl wants to goto school all sweaty at 8am

Ha ha! We tried to map out a bike route for our daughter to attend Vista also. We took a ride on a weekend to do it, and by the time we got up the hill on the bike trail I was hot, sweaty and tired. Our daughter stopped and just laid down in the middle of the trail and said she refused to go any further.

Option B: we found a carpool -- with parents driving, not students illegally transporting other students. We're going to do the same thing this year.

Option C: I believe there's a Folsom stageline route or two that go to Folsom Lake College, then there's some shuttle run that goes to Vista from there.

This can still be overturned if parents want to get involved and fight it. They also said communication is suppose to come out soon in the form of a letter or mass automated phone call. PM me if you are interested in joining the war..hehe

There's no war. Most families are already getting their kids to school without busses. CW is absolutely correct in her statement that bus routes are underutilized. If you have a bus that can hold 50 students, it would be more efficient if it were full. When that huge vehicle carries five children it is entirely uneconomical, inefficient, and a huge waste of government dollars and natural resources.

Ya, totally agree... it was even in their cut proposal on the district web site, so wonder why they mentioned gas as the reason. I'm sure the price doesn't help the situation, but it certainly isn't the only reason. Who knows? Maybe they did mention the budget and I just didn't catch it, but I don't think so.

Gas price increases and budget cuts are intertwined. Budget 101: if you have increased costs and reduced income it creates a deficit. Cuts are then required.

I wonder how much bus drivers make an hour. Do they get benefits and retirement? Not that I'd EVER make enough or want that job.

Enough that the union fought the district's efforts to privatize bussing to try to save some money.

[pet lover]

One of the reasons that busing is such a low priority is because of low ridership numbers. Very few students want to take the bus because they want Mom & Dad to drop them off as close to the doors as possible, at the last minute possible. The bus just isn't cool.

Camay, yes a 50 passenger bus is much better than even 25 cars taking two kids. It's better in terms of gas usage and much better in terms of traffic management around the schools, making it a safer environment. However, very few people in this town seem to put transportation as a priority.

As a soon-to-be-single Mom myself, if there isn't bus service, I do wonder just how my kids will be getting to/from school in the future. I'd be more than willing to pay for the service to secure consistent, safe transportation for my kids, whether or not they thought it was cool. (Sorry kids, but I don't care too much about cool.)

I know that families pay for the bus, but I don't think it covers the full expense of the service. It can cost $500 to take seven first grade classes on a field trip to the Sacramento Zoo...about a 4 1/2 hour trip! I am sure that schools that rely on busses for field trip transportation will likely reduce or eliminate field trips because the bus expense alone. It will be much more affordable to find people to come to the school to put on a presentation. I do feel sorry for families who have kids that live farther than three miles from school, but have kids every heard of a bike? I went to school in Davis and always lived pretty far from campus. Granted the roads are flat...at least we'd have more highschoolers exercising!!!

[pet lover]

$260 for 1 kid

or $500 for 2 kids

Oh my...if I had a high schooler looking to buy a car I would tell my child I would give him his bus fare for the year if he/she rode a bike or found a way to school. By the way, this is coming from someone who isn't a parent so when I become one my view might change!

[pet lover]

I remember that my dad would drop me off at school with my bike and I would ride home. That would eliminate the getting tired and sweaty before school.

I have thought about riding my bike to work and I don't for the same reason. My hill happens to be on the way home...but it is the Iron Point hill...after a day of teaching and a trip to the gym...that hill would be a nightmare. I bought a scooter for my city commute so hopefully I'll help the environment a little bit instead of using my car.

What about the smaller busses? I know the driver costs would be the same but the expenses of gas would probably be less...less vehicle. Oh, well just an idea.

[Revolutionist]

What about the smaller busses? I know the driver costs would be the same but the expenses of gas would probably be less...less vehicle. Oh, well just an idea.

driver cost, insurance cost, maintenance cost, all the same
and the difference in gas mileage would be minimal. 9.1 MPG vs 8.8MPG

[pet lover]

driver cost, insurance cost, maintenance cost, all the same
and the difference in gas mileage would be minimal. 9.1 MPG vs 8.8MPG

I guess the idea has been looked at. Hopefully all parties can find the middle ground with this issue.

[Robert Gary]

I know that families pay for the bus, but I don't think it covers the full expense of the service. It can cost $500 to take seven first grade classes on a field trip to the Sacramento Zoo...about a 4 1/2 hour trip! I am sure that schools that rely on busses for field trip transportation will likely reduce or eliminate field trips because the bus expense alone. It will be much more affordable to find people to come to the school to put on a presentation. I do feel sorry for families who have kids that live farther than three miles from school, but have kids every heard of a bike? I went to school in Davis and always lived pretty far from campus. Granted the roads are flat...at least we'd have more highschoolers exercising!!!

At some point the district stopped allowing the schools to hire private buses. It was too bad because its cheaper to hire a private bus than to use district buses. Back when I was in school the band raised money to play at Disney Land. Rather than use a school bus to go down to SoCal we just chartered a Hound bus. Not only was it cheaper but we got soft reclining individual seats.

-Robert

[keyplayer]

At some point the district stopped allowing the schools to hire private buses. It was too bad because its cheaper to hire a private bus than to use district buses. Back when I was in school the band raised money to play at Disney Land. Rather than use a school bus to go down to SoCal we just chartered a Hound bus. Not only was it cheaper but we got soft reclining individual seats.

-Robert

We still hire charter busses for long trips, but this is about daily school busses.

[Robert Gary]

We still hire charter busses for long trips, but this is about daily school busses.

That's good to hear. I remember when my wife was organizing something when the kids were in elementary school the principal told her that the distinct doesn't allow them to use private buses. It’s good to hear that this isn't the case.

-Robert

[supermom]

I remember that my dad would drop me off at school with my bike and I would ride home. That would eliminate the getting tired and sweaty before school.

I have thought about riding my bike to work and I don't for the same reason. My hill happens to be on the way home...but it is the Iron Point hill...after a day of teaching and a trip to the gym...that hill would be a nightmare. I bought a scooter for my city commute so hopefully I'll help the environment a little bit instead of using my car.

What about the smaller busses? I know the driver costs would be the same but the expenses of gas would probably be less...less vehicle. Oh, well just an idea.

That's great for the kids who live relatively close by....

But for the kids on the west side of the ARB: they have got to travel down F-A all the way to Iron Point then travel all the way up.

Now--I figure by the time my kiddo is a frosh/soph I might be willing to drop her off at the iron point light rail and let her bike the rest of the way---but I'm not sure either of us would get to school/work on time.

The reason being--she will more than likely be taking the zero period elective class ( 7 30 Am ?) and I must be at work by 8 ( quite far from folsom ).

So the busses were our best bet to get my kid to school--period. heh--we'll have to see. Seems to me--to make more sense to eliminate the middle school busses because they are physically equi-distance to the neighborhoods they serve.

[tessieca]

Again, it's probably a moot discussion for this year. But, for supermom: zero period currently starts at 7 a.m. so you'd be fine even dropping off at school instead of light rail. There's a Folsom bus that runs from the Iron Point station up to Intel, providing easy access for kids who want to take it.

[supermom]

Thanks Tess, that's good to know!

[stacycam]

If I lived over the bridge, I'd be tempted to send my kid to Bella Vista. I'm so disgusted with the Folsom school district right now I'd be happy to switch. Unfortunately, living in Empire Ranch, I'm stuck. Also, I'd be even more bitter paying taxes on a school my kids didn't attend (which is actually what some ARC people are forced to do).

My nephew will be going to Vista and my sister-in-law was irritated at me for suggested he ride up the hill.