Bus Routes Cancelled

Mobile County Public School System Dunbar Hundreds of students are forced to find another ride to school.

by Jessica Taloney

Published: Thu, September 04, 2008 - 5:35 pm CST Last Updated: Thu, September 04, 2008 - 5:40 pm CST

Just three weeks into the school year, the Mobile County school district is shaking up its bus routes.

Parents of kids attending Mobile's three magnet middle schools received a letter saying the school district will no longer provide transportation from their neighborhood to their school.

Mobile County's school superintendent, Dr. Roy Nichols, says the state has pulled nearly $2 million in funding, forcing the district to cut the routes.

"The state has decided it too needs to save money, and upon looking at the laws decided they're only transferring children from one school to another, not from their home to the transferred school," says Nichols.

Beginning September 15th, parents of magnet school students will have to find a way to get their kids to the nearest middle school, where a bus will then take them to the school they actually attend. The move affects all students at Clark School of Math Science and Technology, Dunbar School of Creative and Performing Arts and Phillips Preparatory School.

"I don't understand why we get this after school started," says Sara Sherer, the parent of a Clark student. "Parents could have made different decisions about where their child would attend school based on that."

News Five contacted the Alabama Department of Education to find out why the notice was handed down after school started. Craig Pouncey, the state's assistant superintendent, says the state should not ever have paid for magnet school transportation, and until this week they didn't know they were.

"We did not have knowledge it was being done," said Pouncey. "They were actually coding all transportation expenses the same way and not assigning it to specific route types."

Parents can expect to receive another letter from the Mobile County Public School System within the next week with more explanation about the changes.

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