August 31, 2012 (Sacramento):  School starts on Tuesday, and the Sacramento City Unified School District is working hard to remind parents that bus service for elementary school students has been eliminated with a few exceptions.

To balance a $28 million budget deficit, the SCUSD’s Board of Education voted last spring to eliminate all home-to-school transportation for elementary school students.

Service will continue for Special Education students and Program Improvement Choice students, as mandated by law.

There will also be limited service for students whose routes to school includes serious safety risks like railroad tracks. Parents should please visit our website at www.scusd.edu or call our transportation hotline at (916) 643-7999 to see if their neighborhood will have safety busing.

“SCUSD wants to make sure every parent is aware of this change and has made accommodations to get their children to school safely and on time,” said SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond.

SCUSD’s Safe Schools Office is also recommending that parents leave for school a little earlier this year, as fewer buses may mean increased car traffic around campuses.