Brandon Twp.- If the school board approves a recommendation to provide busing to home schools only next year, it could devastate two local businesses.
Jenny Smotherman, director of Stepping Stone Child Development Center, stands to lose a quarter of her business under the plan.
‘We have to have a latchkey program to stay in business, it’s one-fourth of our income,? she said. ‘We have a latchkey teacher everyday, we’d have to lay off a teacher if we don’t have latchkey kids anymore.? Mary Wilcox, owner and director of the Ortonville Montessori School, agreed that the busing change would hurt.
‘We will definitely lose business if they continue with this plan,? she said. District officials, searching for ways to cut a $2.5 million deficit, have proposed an end to in-district transfers, meaning students would no longer have the option of being bused to any elementary they chose in the district, regardless of whether it was their designated home school based on boundary lines. Local daycares would be affected because while the plan still allows for buses to transport to and from the businesses, each one would be assigned a school.
Correcting an earlier announcement, McMahon said this week that only students from Harvey Swanson would be offered bus transportation to and from the Ortonville Montessori School. Students from Belle Ann would have the option to be bused to and from Stepping Stone Child Development Center and Oakwood students, would have the option of Brandon Country Day Care, a home daycare owned by Pam Flood within the school’s boundaries.
However, Flood has no openings available at her daycare. The district itself only offers a latchkey program at the H.T. Burt Lifelong Learning Center, located next to Harvey Swanson.
Smotherman has said she would be willing to pay a fee for the district to transport her latchkey students to the school of their choice.
‘We’re saving the district money with one quick stop rather than having to pick all (our latchkey) kids up at their houses,? she noted. Wilcox suggested the district use one bus for the students from the daycare for both drop-off and pick-up.
The move could affect up to 45 students now using the daycare providers in the community, but if the board approves the busing change at their March meeting, there is still hope for accommodating these students.
‘I have some very viable solutions that I think everyone might be happy with,? said District Transportation Director Betty Martin. ‘The next step is for the superintendent to discuss the ideas with the daycare. A fee paid by the daycares, nominal, annually, might be a definite possibility. One bus for the daycares would not offer savings, so it’s not a possibility, but we have a better solution.?
Both Martin and McMahon said those possible solutions would be discussed at the next board meeting, set for 6:30 p.m., March 8, at the central district office, 1025 S. Ortonville Road.