Charging students for bus rides revived

Due to ongoing budgetary problems, the Public School System has thought of reviving a six-year-old plan to charge students for school bus rides.

Teacher representative of private schools Scott Norman proposed the resuscitation of the desperate proposal during last week’s Board of Education meeting.

Norman made the suggestion in an effort to raise more funds for the upkeep of PSS’ fleet of school buses, which require maintenance for their day-to-day operations.

PSS currently only has a total of 11 school buses, down from 20 in 1994, but only nine are actually serviceable to cater the 15 public schools on Saipan, excluding special schools. PSS said that two buses are still down with maintenance issues that cannot be addressed without proper funding.

BOE board member Herman T. Guerrero said that the suggestion is something the board has not really considered and discussed thoroughly.

“It was not part of the agenda of the last meeting so we cannot entertain it,” said Guerrero, “We [the board] are not considering it seriously.”

He added, PSS needs to purchase more buses first before considering the suggestion, though he also said that it might take a year for the board to deliberate on the option.

PSS director of finance Richard Waldo said that PSS spends at least $90,000 to $100,000 per year for the gas of school buses alone.

“We need to purchase more buses before we can do that,” Guerrero said.

PSS released for the second time last week its bid bulletin for four more buses and eight 10-capacity vans. The first bidding for three buses and 10 vans is still on hold due to vendors’ licensing issues.

Guerrero stressed that the BOE would want to get the buses first, using the federal grant before taking an action charging students for their bus rides.

He, however, assured parents and students that the plan would only be implemented as a last resort.

“The one who suggested that is a non-voting member,” Guerrero said, adding that the rest of the BOE officers have yet to decide on the matter.

In the meantime, public school students will have to wait a little longer until new school buses are acquired to solve the persistent problem of commuting back and forth to their schools.

PSS first floated the idea of charging students 25 cents for bus rides way back in 1999. But the proposal never really took off because of its unpopularity.