Simi School Board Refuses to Reduce Fee for Buses : Transportation: District has sold about 300 passes for start of classes today. Alternatives may be studied later.

Wearing their glossy $300 bus passes, only about 300 Simi Valley children are expected to board nearly empty yellow buses today for the first day of school.

During a grueling four-hour meeting Tuesday, the Simi Valley school board decided to stand by a June decision to charge parents up to $300 a year per student for school busing.

But the board also agreed to study alternatives, such as lowering the cost or offering one-way bus passes. The board is scheduled to take up the issue at meetings Sept. 27 and Oct. 18.

In the meantime, district officials said they expect few students to ride buses to and from their elementary and junior high school campuses the first few weeks of the new school year.

“I think they are going to be light,” Transportation Director Frank Smith said of the number of students on his fleet of 42 buses.

The district had hoped that about 925 students would ride the bus this year, but only about 300 passes have been purchased, officials said. In 1992, the state Supreme Court ruled that school districts could charge for busing.

Hoping to cut costs, the financially troubled Simi Valley Unified School District decided to charge the $300 transportation fee, which would result in a $190,000 savings.

Some Simi Valley children will walk to school this year since their parents are unwilling--or unable--to pay for the new credit card-sized passes.

“I’m not going to (buy one) just out of protest,” parent Stella Kenton said. “It seems to me that they have mismanaged their money and we are paying for it.”

Instead of busing, Kenton will drive her daughter to Berylwood School in the morning and let her walk or bike home.

Kenton sees her child’s two-mile hike as unnecessary because the school in the immediate neighborhood, Hollow Hills Fundamental, has reached its maximum enrollment.

“They put us in a situation where we are forced to bus,” she said. “We have two schools in our neighborhood that are either private or fundamental schools. They knew that this would cause a problem for some people.”

Other parents are angry because special education students and children enrolled in some bilingual education classes will be bused for free.

During Tuesday’s board meeting, several of the 35 parents who addressed the board accused the district of discriminating against their English-speaking children.

“I find this highly a violation of my civil rights,” parent Ann Jordan said. “The (English as a Second Language) students, who your taxes are paying for their education, are getting on that bus for free.”

But Supt. Mary Beth Wolford said the district is required to provide transportation for students enrolled in federally mandated bilingual programs.

“We do not have a choice,” she said. “We must provide for them by law.”

Despite parent protests, district officials expect ridership to increase as the year progresses.

“I anticipate the next week or so we will be very busy and we will pick up considerable riders,” Smith said. “I have talked to numerous school districts . . . this is a trend. They will come back to us.”

In the Conejo Valley Unified School District--the only other Ventura County school district to charge for busing--officials dropped their original $450 bus fee to $360 last year to boost ridership. After cutting the fee, ridership jumped by more than 200 students.

As a result of the projected ridership drop in Simi Valley, the district has reduced and combined bus routes for four junior high schools and one elementary school, Smith said.

Children without passes will be allowed to take the bus for the first few days of school during a brief grace period. “We are not going to leave a child cold turkey,” he said.