Shaky economy to hit kids at school this fall

Districts are trying hard to squeeze every drop of savings from buses and through energy conservation to avoid more drastic cuts in sports, activities or even classes. Schools are also cutting staff, in most cases eliminating positions that are vacant.

In Montgomery County and elsewhere, they are holding off on ordering new textbooks.

In places where the district charges for bus service, such as San Jose, Calif., parents will have to pay more. Hundreds of districts are cutting or consolidating bus routes, expanding the distance kids have to walk.

In Oxford, Ala., the bus has always made stops at every house. But this year, kids in fifth grade through 12th grade will have to walk to neighborhood bus stops.

South Carolina expects to spend nearly $11 million meant for new buses on fuel instead — in a state where the average school bus is 12 years old and some are 22.

In California’s Folsom Cordova district, there will be no high school buses this year.

Smaller, more rural districts require smaller measures: Paw Paw, Mich., is moving to all-day kindergarten, eliminating eight bus runs in the middle of the day.

Schools are also getting creative with computerized bus routes and heating and cooling systems. Montgomery County, the sprawling district that serves the suburbs of Washington, D.C., has a master control room straight out of NASA that lets one person regulate the temperature in every single classroom.

All these cutbacks may seem tough, but to economist Brian Bethune at the private forecasting firm Global Insight, it’s about time.

Only about half of all school kids ride the bus to school. Some walk or pedal bikes, but plenty ride to school in a car with their parents. In an era of high gas prices with no end in sight, Bethune says people need to change.

“I think if parents are going to drive their kids to school and not use bus service that’s already available, that creates problems,” Bethune said. “Those choices have to be revisited, just like everywhere else.”

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