At the area C meeting this week, the MPS district staff rolled out their new
proposed plan to get rid of yellow bus transportation for all high school
students next year. Yellow bus transportation is currently provided for HS
students who live more than 2.0 miles from their high school of attendance.
Those who live more than 2.0 miles would instead receive a "Go-To" card (bus
pass for MTC) and would have to take the city bus to and from school, sports,
etc. The first question I asked myself is "how much money will this save the
district to go to this scheme?" The answer surprised me, in the 8 scenarios
they presented, (8 scenarios because the cost depends on what they do with the
rest of the district K-8 start times and how that implicates costs) only one
has a chance at saving money; the rest will cost an ADDITIONAL $0.7
million-$4.9 million dollars for transportation. Okay, so my next question was,
if it is likely to cost the district more, why do it? The reasons give by the
district were: (info from http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/bus-passes.html)
Provides more academic opportunities for after-school activities.
Supports a flexible schedule for high school students
Provides student access to community resources and real-world learning
opportunities
Positively impacts student retention when paired with Check & Connect
program
Teaches students how to use public transportation
The considerations given by the district (down sides?) were:
Considerations
Students will need training about public transportation
Student ride time may be longer for certain routes and shorter for others
District has less control over stops and routes
District has less ability to mitigate risks like labor strikes, cost
increases, government shutdown
Metro Transit safety personnel will need continued training on supporting
adolescents
If Go-To Cards are provided only to transportation-eligible high school
students (live over 2 miles from school), non-eligible students would not get
same benefits
So, I went online and mapped out with Google (you can choose to map with city
buses and get schedules, pick dates and times) how long it would take my now
8th grader to get to high school if he went to Washburn (our area school, which
we are over 2.0 miles from, and would receive transportation.) There are dozens
of scenarios for morning transportation, assuming an 8:30 start time, all
involve a minimum of two buses, sometimes three, and walking multiple blocks
each time. Average bus time if you make your transfer was around 35 minutes.
The way home is a bit trickier, as it is not during peak bus times, so there
are far fewer options, and if you miss your bus, it is a long wait. Not as much
fun in a -25 January day, but still there are at least buses available. If he
went to Southwest, also one of our zone schools, and theoretically one we could
"choose" to attend - but no one really gets that choice - the bus time would
climb to over an hour at times, just under an hour sometimes. One of the
questions asked at the meeting was that if all kids will be taking the city bus
now, will all schools be open to all kids, since transportation costs was one
of the claims in assigning kids to their closest high school. The answer was a
resounding "no"- this Go-To card plan will not affect high school choice at
all.
My thoughts on this proposed plan (that in actuality sounds like a pretty much
done deal, I always feel these input sessions are often done to placate us, not
really to affect much policy input, right?) are that
1.WHY do this? It doesn't make any kind of fiscal sense to go to this plan of
outsourcing our transportation dollars to the MTC just so some kids can have a
zero hour or use the bus cards to get to work sometimes.
2. Many many kids (mine included) will be starting high school with NO city bus
experience, and the thought of thousands of newbie ninth graders out wandering
the city, sometimes transferring downtown, or in places they are not familiar
with sounds like a recipe for disaster. With the recent reported trio of
attempted abductions of Mpls students I shudder to think how many more
opportunities for problems this may create, as well as the possibilities for
violence and problems once they are actually ON the city bus. (The district
staff at the meeting attempted to assure us that crime was currently down 22%
on MTC buses. From a high of what?) Would the district be liable for issues
that occur on the city bus?
3. It creates all sorts of equity issues, as we know that in our very
segregated city, bus service is safer in some areas, walking is safer in some
neighborhoods, and many kids in more affluent homes will be given a car at age
16 to drive themselves to school. This also may make a little boomlet of
parking issues at some high schools, and another thought is that many more
parents who are able to, will choose to drive their teens to school, creating a
need for more drop-off space at schools as well.
4. I asked what about the issue of kids who lose their Go-To card or have them
stolen. They said in the pilot program the teens had to pay $10 to replace it.
That creates a few problems in my mind, one is that some families can't afford
to pay replacement costs, and if the bus cards cost the district close to $400
each, and we have a lot of lost cards (or people try to steal them, that is a
pretty valuable little card, right?) it could drive the program costs much
higher. I have a few quite forgetful kids, responsibility is something always
worth striving for, but I have a feeling there will be a lot of lost, missing
or stolen cards... just another issue to consider.
5. With bus times out of the control of the district, would tardy kids still be
counted? If the yellow bus is late, tardiness is excused, how would this work
with a city bus? Would the MTC be adding tons more buses to accommodate areas
by high schools so that there is capacity/seats for everyone? Lots of questions
around this.
And finally, if you are still reading (hope so!) I urge you to provide the
district with your feedback here by completing a short survey:
http://svy.mk/mpsbuspass-survey
If you think this is the best idea since sliced bread, go tell them so! If you
think there are way too many issues to make this feasible, provide that
feedback. Please think about your child, even if not going to high school next
year, as well as other children in the district and how this would impact them.
Thank you!
Mary Hanson
HPDL resident, kids at Anthony & Armatage
proposed plan to get rid of yellow bus transportation for all high school
students next year. Yellow bus transportation is currently provided for HS
students who live more than 2.0 miles from their high school of attendance.
Those who live more than 2.0 miles would instead receive a "Go-To" card (bus
pass for MTC) and would have to take the city bus to and from school, sports,
etc. The first question I asked myself is "how much money will this save the
district to go to this scheme?" The answer surprised me, in the 8 scenarios
they presented, (8 scenarios because the cost depends on what they do with the
rest of the district K-8 start times and how that implicates costs) only one
has a chance at saving money; the rest will cost an ADDITIONAL $0.7
million-$4.9 million dollars for transportation. Okay, so my next question was,
if it is likely to cost the district more, why do it? The reasons give by the
district were: (info from http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/bus-passes.html)
Provides more academic opportunities for after-school activities.
Supports a flexible schedule for high school students
Provides student access to community resources and real-world learning
opportunities
Positively impacts student retention when paired with Check & Connect
program
Teaches students how to use public transportation
The considerations given by the district (down sides?) were:
Considerations
Students will need training about public transportation
Student ride time may be longer for certain routes and shorter for others
District has less control over stops and routes
District has less ability to mitigate risks like labor strikes, cost
increases, government shutdown
Metro Transit safety personnel will need continued training on supporting
adolescents
If Go-To Cards are provided only to transportation-eligible high school
students (live over 2 miles from school), non-eligible students would not get
same benefits
So, I went online and mapped out with Google (you can choose to map with city
buses and get schedules, pick dates and times) how long it would take my now
8th grader to get to high school if he went to Washburn (our area school, which
we are over 2.0 miles from, and would receive transportation.) There are dozens
of scenarios for morning transportation, assuming an 8:30 start time, all
involve a minimum of two buses, sometimes three, and walking multiple blocks
each time. Average bus time if you make your transfer was around 35 minutes.
The way home is a bit trickier, as it is not during peak bus times, so there
are far fewer options, and if you miss your bus, it is a long wait. Not as much
fun in a -25 January day, but still there are at least buses available. If he
went to Southwest, also one of our zone schools, and theoretically one we could
"choose" to attend - but no one really gets that choice - the bus time would
climb to over an hour at times, just under an hour sometimes. One of the
questions asked at the meeting was that if all kids will be taking the city bus
now, will all schools be open to all kids, since transportation costs was one
of the claims in assigning kids to their closest high school. The answer was a
resounding "no"- this Go-To card plan will not affect high school choice at
all.
My thoughts on this proposed plan (that in actuality sounds like a pretty much
done deal, I always feel these input sessions are often done to placate us, not
really to affect much policy input, right?) are that
1.WHY do this? It doesn't make any kind of fiscal sense to go to this plan of
outsourcing our transportation dollars to the MTC just so some kids can have a
zero hour or use the bus cards to get to work sometimes.
2. Many many kids (mine included) will be starting high school with NO city bus
experience, and the thought of thousands of newbie ninth graders out wandering
the city, sometimes transferring downtown, or in places they are not familiar
with sounds like a recipe for disaster. With the recent reported trio of
attempted abductions of Mpls students I shudder to think how many more
opportunities for problems this may create, as well as the possibilities for
violence and problems once they are actually ON the city bus. (The district
staff at the meeting attempted to assure us that crime was currently down 22%
on MTC buses. From a high of what?) Would the district be liable for issues
that occur on the city bus?
3. It creates all sorts of equity issues, as we know that in our very
segregated city, bus service is safer in some areas, walking is safer in some
neighborhoods, and many kids in more affluent homes will be given a car at age
16 to drive themselves to school. This also may make a little boomlet of
parking issues at some high schools, and another thought is that many more
parents who are able to, will choose to drive their teens to school, creating a
need for more drop-off space at schools as well.
4. I asked what about the issue of kids who lose their Go-To card or have them
stolen. They said in the pilot program the teens had to pay $10 to replace it.
That creates a few problems in my mind, one is that some families can't afford
to pay replacement costs, and if the bus cards cost the district close to $400
each, and we have a lot of lost cards (or people try to steal them, that is a
pretty valuable little card, right?) it could drive the program costs much
higher. I have a few quite forgetful kids, responsibility is something always
worth striving for, but I have a feeling there will be a lot of lost, missing
or stolen cards... just another issue to consider.
5. With bus times out of the control of the district, would tardy kids still be
counted? If the yellow bus is late, tardiness is excused, how would this work
with a city bus? Would the MTC be adding tons more buses to accommodate areas
by high schools so that there is capacity/seats for everyone? Lots of questions
around this.
And finally, if you are still reading (hope so!) I urge you to provide the
district with your feedback here by completing a short survey:
http://svy.mk/mpsbuspass-survey
If you think this is the best idea since sliced bread, go tell them so! If you
think there are way too many issues to make this feasible, provide that
feedback. Please think about your child, even if not going to high school next
year, as well as other children in the district and how this would impact them.
Thank you!
Mary Hanson
HPDL resident, kids at Anthony & Armatage
