District 49 bus fees & stops for 2011-1012 (Woodland Park, Meridian: lease, how much)

[MrsMac]

I just talked to the transportation department at D49 and I am LIVID. I had resigned myself to paying $372 per child for bus service but they just released the list of stop locations for the 2011-2012 school year and there isn't a single bus stop for Falcon Middle or High School near our home in Woodmen Hills. We live at the north end on the golf course and the closest bus stop is at Woodmen Hills Elementary which is a 30 minute walk away. We were assured at the public meetings about this whole issue that we'd be taken care of and that the kids may have a slightly longer walk but bus service would still be offered.

I love living here in Falcon but I don't think we'll be staying here long term now. (In fact, I'll be contacting my landlord today to see how much it will cost to buy out our lease.) The open space out here great - until you build schools out in the middle of nowhere and then offer no way for kids to get to those schools. (D49 may have found a way to deal with their steadily increasing enrollment...think it was part of their plan?)

[hollyt00]

Do you think there are enough parents who are in your situation that you could get something changed? That sounds really ridiculous.

[unhappyd49er]

Board doesn't care. This isn't about the students. It's about payback for not passing their bond....They will use this to try and justify a mill levy...watch your back!

[Vision67]

Interesting. I just talked to my neighbor who is a realtor. He said he is now having difficulty selling houses in D49 because of the school situation.

If people won't support the schools it impacts the demand for their houses when it comes time to sell.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by unhappyd49er

Board doesn't care. This isn't about the students. It's about payback for not passing their bond....They will use this to try and justify a mill levy...watch your back!

Well, is it about "payback", or is it a genuine funding question?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

Well, is it about "payback", or is it a genuine funding question?

I understand the state cut $4M our of the funds that normally would've gone to D49 which is the alleged genesis of the bus issue.

[MrsMac]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Interesting. I just talked to my neighbor who is a realtor. He said he is now having difficulty selling houses in D49 because of the school situation.

If people won't support the schools it impacts the demand for their houses when it comes time to sell.

I'm not surprised. We are planning to settle permanently in this area and had planned to buy a house when our lease is over next year; we'd been looking at Banning Lewis and Meridian Ranch since we really love it out here. Thanks to the whole busing issue we have started looking in town instead at Grey Hawk Estates, Flying Horse and other developments in District 20.

I figured we couldn't be the only ones being driven out of Falcon by this whole mess. I feel so badly for all my neighbours out here trying to sell their houses!

As I said, I was willing to pay almost $1100 for the 3 kids for bus service if necessary but the circuit busing with no convenient stops near two of the largest housing developments (the north part of Woodmen Hills and Meridian Ranch) out here makes absolutely no sense to me. Add to that the fact that no one was interested in my concerns when I called the transportation department - all I got was a repeated, "The board made the decision and it's final." - and the lack of involvement at the school level (the lady in the office at Falcon Middle School didn't even know the bus stop list was out a week after it was posted on the D49 website and she wasn't at all interested in the potential impact on students) and I'm done. We'll be pulling our kids out of D 49 as soon as we can.

[rksinco]

I can see your frustration on that. However, District 20 will eventually be cutting back on bus service...not eliminating, but most likely fees and fewer pickup and drop spots.
For what it's worth, I have heard that busing in many of the local districts will be changing over the next few years.
This may not be entirely a D49 thing....or it might...we'll see how state budget issues play out, but I wouldn't pick a long-term home purchase on the basis of whether the school provides rides to school; that can change in a heartbeat even in D20.

[MrsMac]

Originally Posted by rksinco

I can see your frustration on that. However, District 20 will eventually be cutting back on bus service...not eliminating, but most likely fees and fewer pickup and drop spots.
For what it's worth, I have heard that busing in many of the local districts will be changing over the next few years.
This may not be entirely a D49 thing....or it might...we'll see how state budget issues play out, but I wouldn't pick a long-term home purchase on the basis of whether the school provides rides to school; that can change in a heartbeat even in D20.

I have a feeling schools everywhere will have to start charging for bus service (that was the case in Hawaii when we lived there, though it wasn't $1 a ride). Our long term home purchase won't be in D49 primarily because of the way the bus issue was handled by the school board (i.e., the initial meeting eliminating the transportation department was held with almost no notice (we parents only found about it from notes sent home by the bus drivers), the constant delays on the contracting vs. fees with no subsidy decision and way they released the absolutely ridiculous bus stop list without anyone knowing about it or requesting parent input, etc.) Since Falcon is a very rural, big area the D49 schools are more spread out and far apart than in town schools and serve a larger area, which means bus service is a more critical issue. The new bus stop locations totally ignore two of the biggest housing developments out here (even though they pick up at the other end of Meridian Ranch Rd), and sadly, that is pretty typical of the sort of decisions I have seen from the D49 board. So many districts (including Woodland Park) have privatized with little to no adverse impact on the kids; the same could have been done here. The D49 schools have been great and my kids have done well in them. Unfortunately, I've had it with the way the school board does business.

There may be future changes in how bus service exists in other districts, including D20, and I understand the need for fees. Most importantly, from the research I've done, the other "good" school districts don't have the same controversy regarding how they do business as D49. I'm willing to pay a bit more for a house in town in order to leave the drama (and my kids' 1 1/2 mile walk to a bus stop) behind.

[rksinco]

Well stated. That makes sense.
We actually live in Meridian Ranch, but my wife drives our son to school, as do most of the friends we know, so we're a bit out of the loop on how it all went down on that.
Thanks for clarifying that though. Good luck to you guys on the new house!