The Hartland-Lakeside School Board is returning to a previous policy under which parents will bear the full cost of an optional pay-to-ride program, meaning an increase of hundreds of dollars.
A letter to parents signed by four of the board’s five members – Chris Adsit, Chris Haglund, Matt McNulty and Matt Schwab – said the district’s 2024-25 and 2025-26 rates for the program were $110 per student per year, capped at $330 per family. But the board voted to increase that fee to $849 per student for the 2026-27 school year, the letter said.
State law requires the district to provide transportation at no cost to students who live over 2 miles from their school, have special needs or who face hazardous conditions walking to school. Conditions that could be taken into consideration include the child’s age, railroad crossings, lack of sidewalks and the amount of traffic.
District re-evaluates program, reverts to earlier policy
The board has offered the optional pay-to-ride program since 2008 for families who don’t meet those requirements but choose to bus their kids to school. Historically, parents paid the full cost to participate. For example, in 2023-24, the fee was $743 per student.
The board reduced the fee to $110 per student for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years after a review found the program wasn’t being administered consistently. It also capped the fee at $330 per family for those two years.
Hartland-Lakeside School Board member Matt Schwab said in an email to the Journal Sentinel that the district was not being consistent with the 2-mile rule, saying some people who were within two miles but were not in hazardous zones were riding for free while others were charged.
Reducing the fee allowed the district time to fix inconsistencies with the program, align it with state law and guidance from the state Department of Public Instruction and ensure the program could be applied consistently.
But the reduced fee meant the program was being subsidized by the community, the board’s letter said.
During that time, several improvements were made, the board said. The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department reviewed hazardous route designations and approved them through the DPI. The district also clarified who’s eligible and who’s using the service, eliminated the middle school shuttle system in 2026-27 to improve student safety, and updated transportation coordination with a consortium of Arrowhead High School and its feeder schools, which includes coordinating the timing of the school day and bus routes.
After making those changes, the board decided to revert to its earlier policy of requiring those who use the program to pay for its full cost. Financial assistance is available to qualifying families.
Balancing difficult financial decisions
The board said that it has to balance costs for transportation, classroom instruction, staffing and student support services while maintaining financial stability; every dollar selected for one area affects another.
It noted that the district has faced an almost $600,000 reduction in federal funding since the 2023-24 school year, as well as a 12.9% increase in healthcare costs last year – which is projected to increase again.
“These realities require careful, responsible decision-making to ensure the district can continue providing high-quality educational programs and services for all students,” board members said in the letter.
Their letter also directed people with questions about board policy to the board and not district staff.
Concerns about the financial burden to families
Morgan Henning was the only board member who did not sign the letter. In a post on her school board Facebook page, Henning said, in part, she had recused herself from the board’s discussion and decision because her family uses the pay-to-ride program.
She said she will have two kids at Hartland North in 2026-27 and that it will cost her family $1,700 just to ride the bus.
“We chose Pay to Ride because our son loves the bus, it keeps one more car out of the drop-off line, and it was affordable. At $1,700? There’s no version of that working for us,” Henning wrote in her post.
While she said she understood the need to do something because of the program’s cost, Henning said deciding on the increase without more community input puts a financial burden on the students and their families who use the program.
“Our neighborhood, Hartridge, is 1.4 miles from Hartland North. That route crosses train tracks and Capitol Drive. Walking is not a realistic option for our littlest students,” Henning said in her post.
Contact Alec Johnson at 262-875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hartland-Lakeside increasing fees for optional pay-to-ride bus program
Reporting by Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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