For the start of the new school year the Audubon Community School has made some changes to our town routes. According to the code of Iowa, schools are required to transport all students in grades K - 8 who live more than two miles from their school building and all 9 - 12 students who live more than three miles from their building. Furthermore the school also has to have those K - 8 students home within an hour with an hour and fifteen minutes allotted for high school students.
Over the years we had added so many town stops that it was becoming almost impossible for us to meet the mandatory time limit set by the state of Iowa to get our required bus riders home. Last year it became necessary for us to extend our town bus route in order to make that happen. Which meant additional expense for the district to absorb.
For the 2014 - 2015 school year the Audubon School Board and Superintendent have approved a plan that limits the number of town stops so that we can meet our obligation to those students who live two or more miles from their school building. The school realizes that this may mean some additional walking for our town students but since our legal obligation lies with our rural students their needs have to be the schools first priority.
Over the years the town routes has been a great free service that the school has provided to it's students and parents. But it was never meant to be the door - to - door service that it has grown into over the years. Many area districts have dropped all town stops that are under the two - mile limit, while other districts have started charging a fee for town students who ride.
Currently our plan is not to drop the town routes, but to try to limit them so that we can provide bus service to as many of our students as possible, always keeping in mind that our legal obligation lies with our rural students.
If you have questions or concerns about this change of policy please contact the Superintendent.
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