REED CITY -- Hundreds of parents in Osceola County will soon be added to the list of parents across northern Michigan who will have to find new ways to get their students to school.
TheReed City Area Pubilc School board voted this week to cut the school busing program from the budget for the 2011-2012 school year.
About $1.5 million needed to be cut from the budget and leaders felt busing should be cut so they could keep smaller class sizes. If busing wasn't eliminated six teachers would have to be cut.
Benzie County Central Schools is considering eliminating bus transportation for middle school and high school students. It's an idea that stems from school's budget shortfall of $1.2 million.
"The legislators have put us in this position. Never before have we had to look at the depth of these cuts. Basically, if they go through, you could be looking at the bankruptcy of Benzie County Central Schools and we can't let that happen," said Superintendent Dave Micinski.
No final school budget decisions have been made at this point for Benzie County. School leaders said they are still waiting to hear from Lansing.
Benzie School leaders said that they budget about $1.5 million for transportation. That makes up about 10% of their $15 million budget.
Traverse City Area Public Schools made a budget decision Monday that will save the district more than $1.5 million
TCAPS will lose 22.5 teachers which means class sizes will jump by 1.5 students. The job cuts will save the distrct more than $1.5 million.
Another $400,000 will be saved by making less bus stops. Additional cuts include: $350,000 to athletcis, nursing staff cuts, security guards.
With schools across the area making tough budget decisions - which area do you think should be targeted first to save money? Tell us "Your Point of View" by voting in the poll below and leaving your comments.
