By Ellie Kuyper and Susan Lofland

For The Beachcomber

School is under way and the hustle and bustle of busy lives is resumed. We drive our children to and from where they need to be, spend our days in the car and our paychecks on the gas.

This year bus transportation for the Vashon school district will cost the district $605,000, even after $100,000 in cuts. Transportation includes bus routes to and from school, field trips and co-curricular activities, such as sports, debate club and math competitions.

The money that is spent on transportation comes from the same general fund as the teachers’ salaries, utilities, maintenance, curriculum, etc. The cuts that were made this year were made to help keep programs we love going and teachers in the classroom. Unfortunately, the state does not just hand over money for transportation. The only way the district receives money to cover the $605,000 is from the voodoo formula of bus ridership week. Riding the bus is a relatively easy way to make a difference and all for a good cause.

Bus ridership week is here. The week of Oct. 12 to 16, every morning, get your children on the bus at the same stop. We all value our children as more than fundraisers, but the state puts an average value on them of $100 or more a day, just for getting on the bus. We know they are worth more than that, but in this day and time, getting our kids on the bus for five mornings in order to raise money for our schools is well worth the simple effort.

The state formula is this: The state takes the number of riders that occurs most frequently from the stop over the five days and applies a formula based on the distance from the school and puts it all together and gives the money as they see needed and fit to their standard.

Our job is to set the standards high. Every child will at some point use the bus during the year, even those whose parents drive them to and from school. For other kids, this is the only way for them to get to school. The state does not look at how many kids are in school; it only looks at how many ride the bus those five mornings.

If the money does not come in this year for bus ridership, and the district budgeted a minimum of $580,000 in revenues for the week, the district will not only have to make more cuts to transportation but also to programs we care about and teachers in the classroom, cuts that cannot be easily replaced.

We want you to think about what has been said here, what the state has already done to this district and to other outlying districts through budget cuts, and ride the bus.

If you live in an area where there are parents for whom their kids’ riding the bus is a hardship, please join together to create a system that works and supports the effort. If you have teenagers who drive, please ask them to consider what school life would be like without buses for their away games, debate tournaments and field trips. Ask them to give up their cars for one week to save their buses.

We, Ellie Kuyper and Susan Lofland, pledge to put our children, elementary and high school students, on the bus every morning the week of Oct. 12. Please join us and make the pledge.

— Ellie Kuyper is a PTSA Chautauqua representative and has two children at Chautauqua. Susan Lofland is PTSA president and has three children at Vashon High School.

Bus Ridership Week

The PTSA is coordinating volunteers to ride buses all five mornings and help count students from all three schools so bus drivers can drive safely. Those who can give a morning or more and would like to experience first-hand a high school/middle school or elementary school bus ride, should e-mail Donna Zaglin, PTSA vice president, at donnazaglin@gmail.com.