BEATRICE – Parents who use the pay-to-ride bus service for their children in Beatrice Public Schools will be paying more. Superintendent Jason Alexander says that’s because the cost of the program is rising significantly, for Beatrice Public Schools.


The board of education approved increases in the annual rate to use the program, and approved a new five-year contract with First Student, the company providing bus service to the district.


The new contract includes cost increases to the district of 10-percent each of the first two years, and 7.5-percent increases in each of the remaining three years. Public Schools in Nebraska are required to provide bus transportation for students living four or more miles from school or reimburse parents for their cost. BPS has provided transportation within four miles of school, for a fee.


After the five-year contract, Superintendent Jason Alexander says BPS will be paying close to one-million dollars to transport students. "We've been waiving free and reduced lunch application students for transportation. We don't have to do that. We can charge those students, so that's a service we've been providing....but it's one that we just can't continue to provide at the cost increases that we're seeing, without charging. Keep in mind, that as we talk about these monthly costs for parents I know that's not a fun thing for some people to talk about. I understand that. Parents always have the option to drive their students to school, as well."


Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jackie Nielsen says the district currently has 514 pay-to-ride participants in the morning…and 534 in the afternoon.  Annual fees can be paid on a monthly basis. For students qualifying for free-or-reduced price meals, the new annual fee will be $160. It would be $120 for the one-way free-or-reduced charge. Other students would have an annual fee of $320…or $250 for one way bus travel. There is an additional charge for extra students in all classifications. Nielsen said Beatrice looked at the charges other districts are offering.


"You have other districts that look at charging $823.65 for the full year. You have another district that does one-way...their annual is $260....their round-trip is $455. Another district....all Class B districts.....another provides no transportation at all to their students. They do the special ed and their rural students, that they have to. It's hard to compare with area schools, because most of their students are rural and they have to provide transportation."


The new rates would raise about $99,000 a year…..covering about one-seventh of the total cost. 


School officials say an option to reduce the cost of the program would be to cut the number of locations where students board the bus. The downside of that move, Board President Eric Trusty says, would be a longer walk for students to designated bus stops.


Registration for the pay-to-ride program opens in May, for the coming school year.


In other moves regarding district transportation, the board approved purchase of an eight-passenger S-U-V for up to $60,000 and an eight-passenger van for up to $45,000. The vehicles will replace school vans in the district’s fleet, which federal law no longer allows districts to use.


Alexander says the district has replaced three of the vans but has ten more to replace.