School Transportation News Magazine | November 2009


[Special Report]


or removed laws to make themselves friendlier to charter schools, partly in an- ticipation of Duncan’s pot of gold.” In light of RTT, there are changes on


the horizon, but it’s too early to say how many more changes there will be in the future. Right now, as “charter school” can mean something different depending on one’s location and other factors, charter school transportation also remains highly varied from state-to-state and can vary district-to-district.


students may not arbitrarily define a neigh- borhood zone around a charter school in order to restrict availability of transporta- tion services to charter school students.” But such an explicit definition of what


charter school transportation should look like and what kind of considerations need to be taken into account to help accommo- date charter school students’ distances and ride times is not believed to be the norm. If transportation is provided by the charter school, whether or not the state


“National charter schools, or schools with a single location in multiple cities, can face challenges in terms of finding the best


transportation deals. Because they operate in multiple cities,


these schools may not be able to enjoy economies of scale.” Charlie Bruce, chief operating officer at First Student


In a particular locale, the percentage of regular-education students


attending a


school other than their local neighborhood school can vary greatly depending on the choice circumstances available. Is inter-dis- trict school choice permitted? Is there ac- cess to public schools outside one’s neigh- borhood or district? Is the locale under an NCLB requirement to provide students in failing schools with better educational op- tions? Tese are just a few of the consid- erations influencing how much choice is available and whether it is easily accessible. With these considerations come wheth-


er or not state law requires transportation for families that choose to send their stu- dents to schools outside of their home district, including charters. While school of choice options have expanded over the years, states may also have laws tied to choice that say, in effect, if you choose to go outside of the district, then the family is responsible for student transportation. Some states have laws that encourage


cooperation between a local district and charters to provide transportation for charter school students. Massachusetts goes so far as to say that drop-off and pick- up distances and ride times to and from the charter school should be comparable to those of students attending district schools. It also states that: “Districts that utilize neighborhood zones to establish eligibility for transportation services for its


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reimburses the charter for student trans- portation can also vary by state. Mas- sachusetts charter schools may volun- tarily choose to provide transportation to some or all of its eligible students, in lieu of having the district provide it, and in these cases, the charter school will receive reimbursement in accordance with the reimbursement policy. As a re- sult, the state was unable to report how many of the nearly 780,000 students transported hail from charter schools for the 2009 STN survey. As in most states, Utah charter schools


do not receive transportation funding. “Because their students come from a


wider geographical area than neighbor- hood schools, the Legislature has decided that it is impractical to provide transpor- tation funding to charter schools,” said the Utah Foundation in its 2005 research report, “Challenges Facing Utah Charter Schools.” A check on Utah’s state legisla- tive Web site shows that, as of May 2009, the law still reads that “Charter schools are not eligible for to-and-from school transportation funds.” What happens when district


trans-


portation is not available? According to NAPCS data, public charter schools are “struggling to cover capital expenses out of their limited operational budgets” with just 15 states and the District of Columbia providing some manner of state facilities


aid to charters. Tere is wide variation from state to state in how the funding of charter schools actually works, the NAPCS also reports. If transportation is not offered through


the district, then charter operators would have to consider paying for transportation out of their operational budget. However, many charters already operate on signifi- cantly less funding than traditional pub- lic schools, so the cost of transportation is prohibitive, explained NAPCS spokes- woman Sarah Johnson. “Terefore, parents and families who


choose to attend charters often do so knowing that they will need to provide transportation,” she said. Alternately, if they are not on a district-


provided yellow bus, charter school stu- dents may end up receiving transporta- tion with the help of charter-provided transit passes for public transportation. Another cost-prohibitive barrier can be


the large, spread-out geographic area in which their students must travel to get to their schools. “National charter schools, or schools


with a single location in multiple cities, can face challenges in terms of finding the best transportation deals. Because they operate in multiple cities, these schools may not be able to enjoy economies of scale,” said Charlie Bruce, chief operat- ing officer at First Student, which trans- ports approximately 40,000 students on 1,200 routes to approximately 500 charter schools across the United States. Tis rep- resents approximately 3 percent of First Student’s business.


WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Tere is interest on the part of charters


to provide students with transportation, noted Robin Lake, associate director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education. According to Lake, an increasing num-


ber of charters are joining regional net- works to create economies of scale to help bring down operational costs, including the possibility of transportation. She also said that districts are becoming interested in partnering with charters to take over or replace low performing schools. “Tese partnerships could really change


charter schools’ ability to provide transpor- tation and other services,” she predicted. n


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