Decreased Enrollment Takes Toll Many districts are sitting in similar


positions in terms of funding available for the next school year. Another reader survey sent to transportation directors and supervisors in February found that 64 percent of respondents anticipate fewer equipment purchases for next year due to budget constraints. Wapello Community Schools, locat-


ed south of Iowa City, Iowa, was cited in a local news article as anticipating a $110,700 cut to the district’s fiscal year 2022 budget. The district reported a 15.7 percent decrease in student enrollment, with a loss of $7,051 per student. The Hawk Eye reported that Wapel-


lo Community Schools, however, did accept a three-year, 1.15 percent school bus financing agreement with the Community Bank and Trust. The dis- trict borrowed $306,286 to finance the purchase of three new Blue Bird school buses as well as the remaining costs of five buses purchased in 2018. Mann at Spring ISD also cited


decreased enrollment as a factor in up- coming purchases. He noted his district normally enrolls around 35,000 stu- dents, but this year it’s down by 2,000, which equates to a significant decrease in funding from the state. In addition, the district is only transporting 60 to 70 percent of its normal riders. Among decreased enrollment, Texas


reimburses transportation operations on a miles-traveled basis. The up- coming legislative session is currently questioning the current model of $1 per mile traveled. Mann added that the district’s linear density isn’t as expan- sive as other districts in Texas, so if the reimbursement numbers are cut lower, he anticipates a significant hit to his operations. Meanwhile, Collierville Schools located


in a growing area of Memphis, Ten- nessee, is actually increasing students every year. Transportation Supervisor Debbie Rike, who supervises transporta- tion operations for five smaller districts including Collierville, said all services are contracted out to Durham School Services. In-person classes started in August.


44 School Transportation News • APRIL 2021


64% of school districts have already utilized federal COVID-19 relief funds for transportation operations (Out of 105 responses to an STN reader survey)


Top Purchases Made With COVID-19 Relief Funds:


95% Cleaning/ disinfecting supplies


83% Personal protection equipment


11% Ventilation systems


6% Other (Wi-Fi, new school buses, etc.) (Out of 66 respondents who have already used relief funds, multiple answers allowed)


87% say they anticipate their school district will continue to use federal relief funds as they are made available (Out of 105 responses)


64% of respondents anticipate fewer equipment purchases for next year due to budget constraints (Out of 104 responses)


Are you applying for any non-COVID-19 grants to help offset transportation costs this year?


43% No 38% I don’t know


18% Yes (Out of 104 responses)


She noted that 30 to 40 percent of


parents across all five districts did choose the virtual option, combined they serve a total of 34,000 students, with several thousand requesting transportation services. While Rike noted that five percent


of total routes were cut this year, she doesn’t want the school bus drivers assigned to those routes to be out of a job and ultimately be unable if more routes were ever needed. Plus, she said she’s trying to create as much distance as possible between students. She noted that when schools shut


down last year, Durham was paid 41 percent of its contract. This school year, the contract is running as normal. But while the CARES Act funding helped the district with purchases, no money was directly transferred to Durham. She added that masks and cleaning


supplies provided from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency to the district are passed down to Durham school bus drivers. They are also offered COVID-19 vaccines alongside district employees. However, the CARES ACT money is helping offset a decrease in sales tax revenues that districts normally receive. “We get a lot of school funding, as I’m sure other districts do, too, from local sales tax,” Rike explained. “If people are not spending as much money, then your percentage of sales taxes and prop- erty taxes and things like that decreases.” She said in a good year, homeowners


are paying their property taxes before December. But the longer the delay in payments, the longer it will take for the district to receive funding. There- fore, CARES Act dollars are serving as a stopgap.


Mann in Texas told a similar sto-


ry. “The reality is, I can imagine more political pressure on not foreclosing on people. And so, if you’ve got somebody who’s not paying their property taxes, that’s money that we don’t have. We live on property taxes, basically. And so, all of this is just kind of up to [the future of] COVID-19,” he concluded. ●


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