Transportation Study Shows High Cost of School Busing

Pete Everson of the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District compiled the following information for the Upper Peninsula Transportation Study presented to Lansing legislators. The study demonstrates the high cost of busing students to and from schools in rural districts with fewer students per square mile. Districts have to drive further to bring fewer students to school than in more populated districts, putting greater wear and tear on vehicles, and costing more in fuel and bus driver wages.

The study also investigated the density of the district, which demonstrates how many students are in a square mile of each district, the cost per student to drive them to and from school, and how much each school spends per mile, Superintendent Everson said.

"The cost per mile demonstrates efficiency and how transportation costs are being spent," Mr. Everson said. "We thought it was important to point out to the legislature that our districts are spending their transportation dollars wisely."

Mr. Everson presented the transportation study when he testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee for school financing earlier this year. The information helped convince State Representative Matt Gillard of Alpena to recommend transportation funding assistance for schools when the House compiled its education budget for 2007-2008.

"We do know what we see across the Upper Peninsula in terms of mixture of sparsely populated districts and dense districts is pretty common across the rest of the state of Michigan," Mr. Everson said of why the legislature has been receptive to the idea of a transportation funding increase.

Eastern Upper Peninsula school districts, their area in square miles, the 2005-2006 cost to the district, and the percentage of each district's general fund budget spent on transportation follows:

• Brimley Area Schools: 282.43 square miles; $342,770 in transportation costs; comprises 6.8% of the district's general fund budget.

• DeTour Area Schools: 236.01 square miles; $231,658 in transportation costs; 5.7% of district's general fund budget.

• Engadine Consolidated Schools: 445.77 square miles; $211,980 in transportation costs; 8.1% of general fund budget.

• Les Cheneaux Community Schools: 122.37 square miles; $226,666 in transportation costs; 6.3% of general fund budget.

• Moran Township and St. Ignace Area Schools: 299.44 square miles; $334,785 in transportation costs; 4.8% of general fund budget.

• Pickford Public Schools: 212.3 square miles; $212,758 in transportation costs; 6.6% of general fund budget.

• Rudyard Area Schools: 401.29 square miles; $524,594 in transportation costs; 5.5% of general fund budget.

• Sault Ste. Marie Area Schools: 217.71 square miles; $761,257 in transportation costs; 3.3% of general fund budget.

• Tahquamenon Area Schools: 1,281.21 square miles; $610,842 in transportation costs; 6.4% of general fund budget.

• Whitefish Township Schools: 245.63 square miles; $57,357 in transportation costs; 6.1% of general fund budget.

Note: Mackinac Island Public Schools, which is also in the EUPISD, does not transport students to school, so was not included in the transportation study.