NEWS ANALYSIS: On bus fees, Montgomery County drives down a dangerous road

In early December, Maryland State Senator Richard S. Madaleno withdrew a bill that aimed to allow the school system to implement bus fees for optional programs including magnet, immersion and consortium programs. According to Madaleno's Chief of Staff Adam Fogel, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) advised Madaleno that the bill was not sufficient enough to allow the county to implement bus fees, prompting the senator to withdraw the bill.

According to Madaleno, the bill intended to allow the Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) greater flexibility when creating the budget and prevent it from cutting transportation for special programs entirely. "In developing this legislation in consultation with the Board of Education, I hoped to forestall any potential cuts to bus service for optional programs," he said in a statement.

Fogel said that the bill would have repealed a state law passed in 1997 that banned Montgomery County from charging bus fees. However, according to the OAG, the 1997 law was unnecessary because other parts of the Maryland constitution already prevent school systems from charging bus fees to optional programs, Fogel said. The OAG said that there would be legal issues with charging bus fees to optional programs because it would violate other parts of the Maryland law, he said.

On Nov. 11, the BOE voted 7-1 to support the bill. BOE member Laura Berthiaume was the only one that voted against the bill, claiming that charging bus fees violated Maryland's promise to provide a free education to all students. "I believe it to be unconstitutional to charge bus fees for getting students to and from curricular offerings provided by the system," she said.

Though Madaleno withdrew his bill, the fact that the county is considering bus fees for students traveling outside of their home school is a great concern to parents and students. If bus fees were somehow allowed, the BOE's strong support for allowing them signals the likelihood of their implementation.

According to Magnet Coordinator Peter Ostrander, special programs such as the Magnet are not entirely optional because they address a specific academic need for their students. Free transportation would be provided for students in special education programs to travel outside of their home school because the county must meet their needs. The same argument can be made for students in gifted programs across the county, Ostrander said.

"Programs like Blair exist because it is difficult for most schools to provide for the academic needs of highly able students," he said. "I believe transportation to these programs should still be protected because of this."

Superintendent Jerry Weast asserted that bus fees would not apply to students who can't afford them. "I hope it doesn't come to this, but if we're going to have to consider fees, we'll never consider cutting funding so that poor students will be left out of transportation," he said. However, students who are not applicable for fee waivers are at a disadvantage since bus fees can discourage them from joining programs best suited to their needs and interests.

According to Academies Coordinator Kevin Moose, some students who can't get fee waivers will simply opt out of special programs because of the money factor. "You restrict what's supposed to be a free access program," he said.

In the Down County Consortium (DCC) eighth grade students have the option of choosing between five high schools, including Blair. According to Moose, 52 percent of eighth grade students selected a high school other than their home school. In addition, about 70 percent of students and parents claimed that they were interested in what programs or academies a school has to offer when making a decision. The idea is to give students a chance to pursue their goals and interests, and adding bus fees to the equation defeats the purpose for many students.

Transportation is a major concern for many Magnet applicants, according to Ostrander, and implementing bus fees could be a deterrent for some students to not attend the Magnet. "We had students who we accepted last year turn the program down citing transportation concerns," he said.

Having to make sacrifices when facing budget gaps is a difficult process, said Weast. "I think that it's wrong to have to make these decisions," he said. The BOE already faces challenges since County Executive Isiah Legget proposed $19 million in budget cuts for MCPS, but the BOE should keep transportation out of the picture.