School administrators have requested that parents sign up by Tuesday for a new paid-busing program that begins this fall in Kildeer Elementary School District 96.
The program will benefit families with children who are not eligible for free busing. Free busing is available to children who live more than 1 1/2 miles from school or to those for whom it would be hazardous to walk to school.
In District 96, 875 students live within 1 1/2 miles of school and don’t qualify for free busing. The district’s enrollment is more than 3,500.
As of last week, parents of 64 children had signed up for the program. They will pay a $300 ridership fee for each pupil and a $25 administration fee for each family.
Two buses will transport children who live less than 1 1/2 miles from Willow Grove and Prairie Elementary Schools.
Buses already serving Ivy Hall Middle School and Twin Groves Junior High Schools will carry pupils at those schools who participate in the new program, said Richard Stueber, director of facilities and transportation. The district’s fifth school, Kildeer Elementary School, provides free busing to all its pupils because it is on a busy road, making it hazardous for children to walk there.
Board members said they expect the paid-busing program to become self-supporting, although they said they would provide district funds during the first year. Stueber said that if 70 pupils participate, the program should pay for itself.
More information is available by calling 847-459-4260.
