Mill Valley’s school bus program has weathered declining ridership and budget shortfalls, but the impact of the coronavirus could take it out of service.
The four-year program might be cut because of funding shortfalls caused by social distancing requirements that could limit the number of students per bus, said Mayor Sashi McEntee.
“So much is up in the air, we don’t know if the current bus program is going to fit into the new restrictions,” McEntee said. “The second thing is a budget impact. We are already going to have to make some very tough decisions at the city level and the council may or may not find the $80,000 to $100,000 that would be needed to fund the school bus program.”
The program costs about $244,000 this year. Its funding includes $70,000 from the city; $14,050 from the Mill Valley School District; $55,000 from the county; and $25,279 in Measure AA funds through Marin Transit. It also generated $65,376 in bus pass fares of March 15.
The City Council will review its budget at its May 18 meeting to decide if it will continue funding the program, McEntee said.
So far, 198 bus passes have been sold this year, said Nancy Whelan, Marin Transit general manager. But because of school closures, she said Marin Transit expects to reimburse $13,800 in bus passes.
Bus pass sales declined from 278 in 2016-17 to 214 the following year and 178 in 2018-19, according to a Mill Valley staff report in September. While sales increased by 20 this year, the program is now challenged by the virus restrictions.
Large Marin Transit buses are limited to eight people while the public health order is in place, Whelan said. Whether that restriction will affect the school bus program in the fall is still unknown.
“There is a lot of speculation that social distancing will still be required when schools resume,” she said. “So we anticipate to not have as many students on the yellow bus as we’ve had before COVID-19 if the 6-feet requirement is kept in place because you can’t seat students shoulder to shoulder.”
The program’s two yellow buses helped ease traffic congestion during peak commute hours, said Councilman Jim Wickham. But officials are unsure if the city could afford to purchase more buses to keep up ridership if needed.
The program serves Mill Valley Middle School and Strawberry Point and Edna Maguire elementary schools. The program stopped service on March 12, said Kimberly Berman, Mill Valley district superintendent.
Even though only about 3% to 4% of the district’s 2,900 students use the program, every family matters, Berman said.
“The district has remained committed to the school bus, and we are not recommending any reduction in our funding,” Berman said. “Instead, to be clear, we are unable to increase funding to support additional buses or run buses without full capacity as would be required at this current moment with the reduction in allowed riders.”
She said she is hopeful the restrictions in ridership will not spill into the new school year, but if they do the city would be responsible for paying a funding shortfall under the contract.
McEntee, whose children use the program, said the city will work to maintain its agreement with the Mill Valley School District. Losing the bus would be a serious blow to many Mill Valley families, she said.
“Potentially losing that program is difficult given how much we put into it,” McEntee said. “But these are not normal times and we have to look at where we are now, re-evaluate in a year and see what we can do at that point.”
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Mill Valley school bus program at risk over virus - Marin Independent Journal
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