Ravenna schools to cut busing for high school students. Levy returning to November ballot

Ravenna High School students won't be able to take the bus to school no matter where they live, the district told parents last week.

Parents received a notice through Parent Square, the district's messaging app, informing them of upcoming changes to the district's transportation plan.

The district also posted notification of the transportation plan on Facebook.

The notification states that the district's Board of Education approved a transportation plan on July 1 "to help reduce the financial deficit the district is facing." According to the plan, high school students will not be transported by bus, unless they are special needs students who have transportation requirements in their individualized education plans, also known as an IEP.

Students in kindergarten through eighth grade will be bused unless they live within half a mile of the district.

Detailed plans were to be provided to affected families in the next two weeks, and detailed bus schedules will be posted Aug. 5, the notification stated.

Ravenna Superintendent Laura Hebert said the plan differs from a previous proposal to cut busing, which would have still bused high school students who lived outside a 2-mile radius of the high school. High school students now are bused if they live more than a mile from the high school.

Under the previous plan, students at Brown Middle School and West Park, Willyard and West Main Elementary would have been bused only if they live outside a 1-mile radius.

Elementary students are now bused if they live one quarter of a mile from their school or more, while middle school students are bused only if they live three quarters of a mile from the district or more.

Hebert said the change was made to allow the district to provide transportation to more elementary and middle school students, who make up the majority of students in the district. The plan still exceeds the state minimum busing requirements, which don't require districts to bus high school students at all, and requires busing for kindergarten through eighth graders who live outside a 2-mile radius of their school.

"It was to preserve the best options for the majority of our students," she said. "We're just trying to serve as many of our students as we can."

As was the case in the previous proposal, students at Maplewood Career Center, and those with special needs, would continue to be bused regardless of the distance, as would students who attend St. Patrick Elementary School in Kent and the BioMed Science Academy in Rootstown. The state requires the district to transport non-public and charter school students from Ravenna City School District to their schools, Hebert said.

In March, Ravenna voters rejected a 6.9-mill, five-year levy that would have generated $2.7 million annually for the district. It was Ravenna's third request for new money.

The board recently agreed to go back to voters for a levy in November. The emergency levy would generate $3.25 million a year, although the exact millage has not yet been determined.

Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.