By Karen Gutierrez
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FLORENCE - Budget cuts may force the Boone County school system to double up on bus runs or even stop transporting some students next fall.

It's too early to know for sure what changes, if any, will be necessary. But about 800 new students are expected next fall and there will be no money from the state to transport them. If service remains the same, that would create a budget shortfall of about $350,000, Assistant Superintendent Mike Hibbett said.

The district may dip into its emergency fund to cover the expense. But it also will consider making more "double runs," meaning the same bus transports two loads of children to a school, causing some to arrive extra early and some to leave extra late.

The district, which transports 13,200 students, had 97 buses making double runs last fall. But there were so many complaints that routes were reorganized and the double runs were cut to 26.

That number may increase next year. Another possibility: Ending the district's long-standing practice of providing bus service to every student.

The state requires districts to transport only children who live at least one mile from a school. But in Boone, between 3,500 and 4,000 children live within a mile but still ride buses, Hibbett said.

This helps the district maintain its 97 percent attendance rate, he said.

Under unsafe conditions, the state requires busing regardless of where students live. But in Boone, some children are riding buses who, in other districts, would be walking or catching rides with parents, Superintendent Bryan Blavatt said.

He explained the potential changes to a group of students on Monday.

"I would take less teachers over less school buses. Safety comes first," said Kristi Watkins, a senior at Conner High School.

Busy highways and streets are a big problem, the students said.

"There's no way that some kids who are three-quarters-of-a-mile from my school could walk," said Elizabeth Johnson, a fifth-grader at Stephens Elementary School.

Blavatt said he'll likely send a proposal to the School Board at the end of this school year.

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E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com