The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round - For Now

Forty seven thousand Los Angeles Unified School District students who were poised to lose their daily school bus transportation due to statewide mid-year budget cuts can breathe a sigh of relief--at least for the rest of school the year.

Last night, the state legislature cleared a bill that would restore school bus funding after mid-year trigger cuts wiped out the $248 million the state allocates each year to transportation. The bill, SB81, is headed to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk for his signature.

When transportation funds were cut mid-year, Superintendent John Deasy pledged to get students to school through the remainder of the school year, even if he had to pull money from the general fund to do so.

California schools still stand to lose out on $248 million in state funds, but the cut will be administered differently. The original cut would have disproportionately affected urban and rural school districts that rely heavily on school buses.

Under the original proposal, LAUSD would have faced a cut of $38 million.

Now the reduction will be applied to the amount the state allocates each student, spreading the cut more equitably among the state’s students. LAUSD stands to lose $24 million under the new method of cutting funds, a savings to the general fund of $14 million.

Students can ride buses to school for the remainder of the 2011-12 school year, but bus riders aren’t out of the woods yet. SB81, as the bill is called, only covers the cost of buses through June. The state has eliminated bus funding completely for 2012-13 school year. LAUSD has filed a lawsuit against the state challenging the cuts.