Question: Regarding the statutes for busing, must the school district provide transportation regardless of the public school mode of education? Is it true that we could expect them to bus our students before the public school sessions start? For example, we start a week before the public school district begins.

Answer: Yes, the district must transport your students even if the public schools are not in session — at the beginning of the year, at the end of the year, and even during the district’s winter and spring breaks. The mode of education the district is using compared to yours is immaterial. The DPI’s official transportation FAQ guidance on busing addresses this issue. It says in question 3:

“3. Must a public school district provide transportation to private school pupils on days the public school is not in session?
An opinion from the Attorney General, 61 O.A.G. 240, 244 (1972), stated that a public school board is required to provide transportation for private school pupils attending school on days when the public school district is not in session. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals confirmed that position in Hahner v. Board of Education, Wisconsin Rapids, 89 Wis. 2d 180 (1979). It is beneficial to both the public and private school(s) in the same school district to have school calendars which are as consistent as possible.”

Busing Battles

The fight for equitable busing is being waged by WCRIS on behalf of several of our schools. Some of the transportation problems encountered by our schools, among others, include: districts ignoring private school schedules; refusing to transport private school students because public schools are virtual, and forcing parent contracts outside of the statutorily mandated deadlines.

In Racine, the district has forced daily start times for several of our schools’ students who are being bused as much as an hour later than the regular school day starts for their fellow classmates. The arguments in this case may be of use as you fight for busing equity in your school district. Read the August 13 letter that the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) sent on behalf of WCRIS to the Racine Unified School District for a more detailed, background understanding about a district’s obligation to transport students when the public district is not in session.

Stay tuned to Current Events for busing updates.