Local school district to remove busing for high school, some K-8 students

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP — Hundreds of students in northern Montgomery County will not be able to use school buses in the fall.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the Jefferson Township Local Schools Board of Education decided to operate at the state minimum for transportation to save money.

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The minimum requirement for transportation means school buses will not pick up students in grades Kindergarten through 8^th grade if they live within two miles of the school.

High school students will not get busing at all.

Jefferson Township Local Schools Superintendent Dr. Rusty Clifford said the district was looking at the four-year financial forecast at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

The district said the state made them aware that they are spending more money than they are taking in.

Clifford said the last thing they want to cut is in the classroom, so they looked at other options.

Going down to the state minimum transportation helps reduce their spending, but Clifford said they still need to pass a 1.25% income tax levy on the May ballot.

He said the levy allows the school more money for staff and other things that keep the district running.

No matter the outcome of that levy, Clifford says they will keep the minimum transportation.

“We’ve got to do two things: we’ve got to pass the levy, which will help us reduce that, go to the deficit spending, but then we can’t wait,” Clifford said. “We can’t wait to see if this passes, and then decide, you know, we’ve got to let people know in advance, and we need to take a bite out of that deficit spending and move forward with that.”

Clifford added that the district has only experienced new school taxes once in 35 years, in 2008.

The district plans to notify everyone impacted by this change by the end of the month.

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