Busing expansion alternatives presented to Lockport school board

Jan. 18—Lockport school board members were apprised of the costs of suggested district-wide busing expansion on Wednesday.

According to Deborah Coder, assistant superintendent for finance and management services, the board's Transportation Advisory Committee compiled a report projecting the cost of providing transportation for all students residing within 1.5 miles of their school. Four different alternatives to the current setup — a maximum walking distance of 1.5 miles for high school students and 1 mile for all other students — were examined.

Coder laid out four possible referendum questions to put to the voting public during the May budget and school board elections. The alternatives would involve picking up more students by bus or van.

Of the four options, two reduce the walking distance for students, and two involve designating child safety zones where students would be picked up by bus so they don't have to walk through neighborhoods with higher crime rates or populated with registered sex offenders and / or group homes for recovering addicts.

One designated child safety zone would be the area north of East Avenue all the way to the district's northern boundary. Five Emmet Belknap Intermediate students would be provided with van transportation to and from school at an approximate one-time cost of $73,000, Coder said.

Another designated child safety zone would cover the area bounded by High, South Transit, Walnut and Erie streets. Two large buses would transport 220 students to and from Lockport High School, LHS West, Belknap Intermediate and Roy B. Kelley Elementary, at an estimated one-time cost of $164,000.

Each designated child safety zone would have to be approved by a majority vote of the public, and once it is approved, it can't be changed without another public vote, interim Superintendent Michael Bonnewell noted.

Two other referendum options call for reducing students' required walking distance by 0.25 miles and 0.5 miles.

A quarter-mile reduction would allow busing for 297 students, 210 elementary and intermediate and 87 at the junior and senior high schools. Five more large buses would be required, at an approximate one-time cost of $412,000, according to Coder.

A half-mile reduction would allow busing for 703 more students, 468 at the elementary and intermediate schools and 235 at the junior and senior high schools. Seven large buses would be required, at a one-time cost of $575,000.

The district would be reimbursed for 90% of the fees associated with designated child safety zones, through state transportation aid, Coder said. There is no reimbursement for adding buses to reduce walking distance, she said.

The school board directed the transportation advisory committee to study bus service expansion in November, following complaints from parents about walking distance and / or neighborhood conditions.

The board now has to decide whether put the options on the May school ballot. The associated costs will have to be factored into the 2023-2024 district budget, Coder noted.