Budget woes at Merced Union High School District could affect transportation

Ken Kesey, the famous '60s Merry Prankster, told his fellow hippies, "You're either on the bus or you're off the bus."

That slogan may come back to haunt students, parents and educators here facing some of the deepest budget cuts in history.

This year, the Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) may be looking at a $2 million deficit in transportation funding -- an area cited by district officials as a place to make possible cuts.

This year, the state's apportionment for transportation funding was $524,358 and expenses were $2.6 million, said Diane Hockersmith, chief business officer for MUHSD.

Last year, those numbers were also worrisome. The district received $654,141 in state money toward transportation, and expenditures were $2,285,954, Hockersmith said.

Last Monday, the high school district began a rugged and ongoing discussion of how it could cut spending. Part of the talk included a $250,000 reduction in the transportation budget.

The motivation behind this was to keep cuts far away from the classroom, district officials said.

Cuts would most likely include a reduction in the number of stops on a bus driver's route, Hockersmith said.

Another potential area of savings would be to expand the distance between some school bus stops and the school from two miles to two-and-a-half miles, Hockersmith said.

That could mean students who live one mile from school and want to ride the bus would have to walk to the closest bus stop, which would be two-and-a-half miles from school.

However, Hockersmith said that because of safety concerns, some bus stops would continue to be located less than a two-mile radius from school.

Getting students to school safely is the district's top priority, Hockersmith said.

The district suggested another possible cut that could slash bus drivers' contracts from 11 months to 180 days.

This would revert the bus drivers' contracts to one held by employees in 2005-2006.

Negotiations between the high school district's California School Employees Association (CSEA) and the school district would need to occur before this cut could happen, said William King, president for MUHSD CSEA.

The 2005-2006 contract was changed because the district had a high turnover rate when it came to bus drivers, so the contract was changed to make the position more attractive.

If this suggestion became a reality, it could be devastating to bus drivers, King said. That could cut their income by 30 percent.

MUHSD will hold another school board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Buhach High School Colony Theater to continue the discussion of budget cuts.

Reporter Jamie Oppenheim can be reached at (209)385-2407 or joppenheim@mercedsunstar.com