Members of the school board chose to get rid of corridor busing to all choice schools at their Tuesday night meeting.

“They voted to eliminate corridor busing for all choice programs, and that includes West Shore,” Principal Rick Fleming said. “I do see it having an impact on us and the accessibility to our program.”

Sophomore Natalie Mann said she rides the bus every day and that this school board decision will affect her greatly.

“I wouldn’t have a ride to and from school,” Mann said. “I might have to leave West Shore because I live far away. The cost in gas of driving to and from school every day is expensive. Also, I have a bunch of friends who ride the bus that want to go to school here, but since the corridor busing is going away they can’t anymore.”

According to Fleming, a pay-to-ride system may be established. This would provide busing to students who choose to pay an annual or monthly fee.

“There was some discussion about possibly finding a pay-to-ride mechanism and seeing how much that would cost,” Fleming said. “They’re investigating that option now.”

Because corridor busing is going away, the number of people using the car loop in the morning and afternoon will be increased.

“We have already looked at setting up an airport pick up/drop off scenario in our bus loop if there’s no way that the district can find a way to do a pay-to-ride situation,” Fleming said. “It will be challenging, especially in the first year for parents to get used to dropping off their kids, as well as the influx of cars on the road.  But it’s something we’re just going to have to navigate through.”

By Autumn Scheer