Parents stump to keep bus transportation

Jim Sweeney played all the major sports as a child.

But athletics should take a backseat to a child's education, said Sweeney.

With bus transportation to specialty schools on the chopping block in the proposed 2011 Prince William County Public Schools budget, the parent of two children in Hylton High School's Center for International Studies & Languages said he would support the elimination of freshman sports.

"To offer freshman sports in lieu of education does not make sense to me," Sweeney said. "And I have played every sport you can think of."

While Sweeney's idea may seem extreme, he's certainly not alone in his support of both the CISL program at Hylton and all the specialty programs offered throughout the county. Hordes of parents and students are upset at not only the potential elimination of the bus service, but the reduction of the specialty program coordinator positions to half-time per school.

And several have stated that these cuts are the first step to the eventual elimination of the programs themselves.

"It's critical to stay a world class school system," said Hylton parent Denee McKnight, whose daughter has to cab it home on days she can't take the bus. "It's [CISL program] is really one of the highlights of the school system. It would just be a shame for it to go away."

Cutting the bus service and reducing the program coordinator positions would net a savings of nearly $5.7 million. In all, the school division needs to shed $79 million to balance this year's budget.

The school division's budget still includes funding for transportation to Pennington and Porter Traditional Schools as well as Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Fairfax.

Approximately 20 percent of the 10,659 students enrolled in the specialty program -- including traditional schools -- take the bus. Several parents have stated publicly that they would be willing to pay for the transportation of students to their specialty schools. Unfortunately, that option may not exist.

The school division recently sought an opinion from the attorney general about what it can and can't do regarding this issue.

According to the letter sent by Del. Jackson R. Miller, R-50th, to Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, current governor and former attorney general Bob McDonnell opined that "local school districts could not charge students for transportation to and from school for the purpose of regular school attendance."

While they await an opinion from Cuccinelli, the school division is looking at consolidating routes as opposed to the outright elimination of the service, said David Cline, associate superintendent for finance and support services.

One problem with route consolidation is inconvenience, said Cline. To get to one of the pickup points -- currently there are close to 80 of them all over the county -- a parent would have to potentially drive further than they currently do.

Another issue is that the buses currently being used to transport the students to the specialty schools are scheduled to be used to accommodate the influx of new students expected this fall.

That means that even a modified bus schedule for speciality schools would necessitate the school division purchasing more buses, Cline said.

Cline hopes to have another presentation on the subject before the school board marks up the budget Wednesday evening. By Tuesday evening, Cline hopes to have a clearer picture of state funding.

The board is scheduled to vote on the budget March 24 while the General Assembly regular session was scheduled to conclude today.

Like many parents, Liz Holmes raved about the CISL program and would love to see it stay. Her son Jonathan has excelled, having become the secretary general of the model United Nations club at Hylton and is considering attending William & Mary and St. John's College in Annapolis, Md.

"This is the best thing that has happened to my son in 13 years of schooling," Holmes said. " And there have been a lot of good things that have happened to him."

Holmes said she if had a magic wand and could only change one thing, she would fully fund the CISL coordinator position currently held by Margaret Holt.

"You absolutely cut the heart of the program if you cut the funding for the coordinator position," Holmes said. "Mrs. Holt drives the program, she know every student. She's like an informal guidance counselor to every student in the program."

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.