Neighborhood says school bus costs too high, hires private service

ADAMS COUNTY - School Districts across Colorado are making deep cuts, trying to deal with shrinking budgets and less financial support from the state. Those cuts are impacting the way a lot of families are making plans for the next school year.

Most students who ride the bus will now have to pay $10 each month for the service and bus routes are also getting cut. Now, some neighborhoods are making other arrangements.

Monte Smith and his 10-year-old daughter Ashlyn are getting ready for her to enter middle school.

"You know, not only is it a transition from elementary to middle school, it's now gonna be, hey you've got to get yourself to school," Monte said.

Ashlyn's walk to school will be longer than most students her age.

"It's almost about 2 miles, a little bit, and it's a lot of uphill and downhill. It's really wavy," Ashyln says.

To save money, Adams 12 Five Star Schools has cut out bus service for any students living less than 2 miles from school. Ashlyn lives right on that line.

"It's gonna be a little bit hard cause I'm just afraid I'm gonna loose my way," she said.

Her parents are also worried about the major intersections and bad weather.

Monte says he understands times are tough.

"We can't blame the district. We know they have budgets. We know everybody in this economy is making cuts and adjustments," he said.

So he and about a dozen other families are hiring a private bus company to make the trip every morning and afternoon.

"This would be the first public school that they would bus to," he said.

The cost will be about four times the amount Adams 12 is charging other families for bus service, but the private bus service suits Ashlyn just fine.

"I think it would be a really nice idea," she said.

More than a dozen other families in the neighborhood have come together to support the bus service.