HOWARD — East Knox Local School District will have high school busing this fall after all.
The district’s board of education voted on May 23 to eliminate high school busing in order to save money. Superintendent Matt Caputo said that decision was based on a study by the Ohio Department of Education that indicated the district could save $42,000 for each bus route eliminated.
The figure includes the cost of operating the bus and the cost of the driver.
Caputo said the district entered an agreement with a transportation consultant, John Kline, who was to complete the district’s new routing and establish the system for the 2011-12 school year. However, the district was notified that Kline will not be able to complete the plan and, in fact, he has left the Columbus area.
As a result, Caputo said, the district is left without enough time to find someone capable of planning a new system without high school busing.
“We will continue to look at more ways to save money,” Caputo said. “Eliminating high school busing now just doesn’t make economic sense.”
“We’ve already reduced the transportation department to a skeleton,” he added, noting that the middle school principal will also be serving as transportation supervisor.
