Meeting Public Comments

Kathryn Cross []

Please pass this bill. It would help the open enrollment studenSchool. In Fraser to receive transportation to Ogden School that is actually closer then the assigned school.

Cassidy Shreve []

Please pass this bill. I have a son that I will be open enrolling to Ogden when he is old enough to start school. I am currently in the SE Valley school district, which is very inconvenient for us. My child would be on the bus for over 2 hours a day, which isn't practical if/when he would need to attend after school activities, it would cut down on time with family, homework, etc. SE Valley is 30 miles from us where Ogden is 14 miles. We would love for our child to be able to benefit from being able to ride the bus to Ogden.

Anna Krause []

My family lives in Fraser and our two children are openenrolled Ogden schools, where my husband and his brothers graduated. This is the closest for us and allows for us to make it to activities as well. With my husband being over the road during the week for their trucking company, that leaves shuffling the kids to me and having bus transportation to and from Ogden schools would be ideal. Would definitely take away some of the stress in trying to arrange daily transportation while getting my hours in work but also still provide reasonable pick up and drop off times for the kiddos (one of the reasons we open enrolled). My kids are already familiar with using Ogden's bus services and are dropped off at a child care provider after school, but if we could get a bus to home this would shorten our day and allow us added time for schoolwork, activities, and family time in the evenings. This would greatly serve our community as there are quite a few families with similar circumstances.

Stefanie Yearian []

Please pass this bill! I am on a bus line for the my open enrolled child/ school district but because I am on the wrong side of the road, my residing school distract has declined the open enrolled school access. My residing school district does not meet the needs of my child. Please allow the option to busing if feasible for open enrolled students.Thank you so much for your time! Stefanie Yearian

Stephanie Vaughn []

I open enrolled my oldest daughter to Ogden community school at the beginning of the school year. Previously she went to Southeast valley but due to transportation from Fraser to Dayton for her and her younger sister (who also attended daycare there) she was unable to take partake in activities with out me missing work due to travel time. Most games were based out of Gowrie which is quite the drive considering we reside in Fraser. It would be nice to have transportation from Fraser to Ogden considering most of the kids within the area are open enrolled to Ogden and it would benefit many families with in our community.

Katie King []

My husband and I along with our two kids live in Fraser. Last year we tried along with neighbors to get our district rezoned so we could join with Ogden. We currently would have to have our kids on the bus for roughly an hour + one way. This option would allow Ogden to be able to make life much easier for a lot of families! Thanks for taking the time to listen to our concerns.

Rachel Duncan []

There are many reasons why House File 41 should be made into law. The one that matters most to me is that my children have the best opportunities available to them. A quick Google search showed me there is research showing students with longer commutes sleep and exercise less. The research showed a 10 minute commuter would have the opportunity to sleep 26 minutes more than the 30 minute commuter. So that would likely compute to an hour less of sleep for my children. Research also shows that the time devoted to exercising also takes a toll. Both of these healthy habits are essential to a child. Family is essential to a childs development as well. Im not going to Google search that but we all know the importance of family. With added commute time, family time suffers. Opportunities such as music, art, athletics are inhibited. With added commute time everything is affected. TIME is such a gift and to waste it sitting on a bus because the adults cant do what is best for a child is the saddest part. I hope you will make this HS41 a law. I would also argue to have receiving districts be able to obtain/expect money from the resident district. If a child has special needs and open enrolls; the resident district is expected to pay for the additional costs associated with this student. Why should our general education students be different for just wanting to be transported to/from school?Southeast Valley School District (SEV) is 30.8 miles from our home. Just traveling there in my personal car takes 36 minutes. My 2 children would spend more than 2 hours each day traveling to and from school when the roads are good and all the stops go smoothly. We have chosen to open enroll our children to Ogden. Ogden is just 10.4 miles away. This is only a 16 minute drive. We live just 8/10 of a mile away from the district line8/10s of a mile, yet we are not eligible to have our children picked up on the school bus. Over 12 years ago, a group of our neighbors, family and friends appealed to SEV to allow us to access transportation from the Ogden District where we currently open enroll. The board/superintendent all but laughed in our face. We open enrolled anyway. In March 2022, a group of neighbors, family and friends voted No to consolidation with the SEV because there was a chance we could get bussing for our children. We had the support of many but not enough. We had the support of the Ogden district, Ogden superintendent and Ogden school board but without money to support the bus routes their hands were/are tied. My neighbors, family and friends are writing on this page and attending today to show that we want the best for our children. Our children are the FUTURE of Iowa and the country! These children will be valuable citizens in the near future and could possibly be sitting right where you aredeciding the fate of Iowa families who have cared enough to try. We hope you will pass HS41. Thank you, Rachel Duncan

Kelly Merritt []

As a member of the Ogden Community School Board, I whole heartedly support this proposed legislation. While I do understand the reasons behind requiring permission from the home district, I would submit to you that those rules prevent us from doing what is best for kids. We have many, many students that are a stones throw from our district that we are unable to transport! At one time, we had kids walking to a bus stop in order to be able to catch a bus to Ogden. Surely we all agree that children walking along the highway is not in their best interests. Please consider what is best for students and consider passing this bill!

Amanda Williams []

I feel that this bill is very important not only as a parent who open enrolls but for many who open enroll due to the continued consolidation of school districts. There are many children who are riding a bus for an extended amount of time because parents have no other choice than to send their children to the schools that are in their school district due to transportation. I am one of the few fortunate ones who has had family available to help with transportation to and from school and the designated bus stop that is closest to our home. We are less than a mile from the Ogden School District line and I work in Ames so it has only made sense to send my son to Ogden. I understand that it is a choice to open enroll and it is our responsibility to make it work but for some sending our children to a school that is so far away is stressful and unneeded. There needs to be better options for transportation if we are going to continue to see the school districts get larger.

Margaret Buckton [Rural School Advocates of Iowa and Urban Education Network]

Both the Rural School Advocates of Iowa and the Urban Education Network are registered opposedto HF 9. The current system allows districts to work together in agreeing when transportationservices are appropriate, but local school boards should have jurisdiction over their district and territory. Both organizations are also concerned about districts withresources being able to market to certain neighborhoods in neighboring districts and providing transportation that the resident district can not afford to provide.Since the state provides transportationreimbursement to get all districts to the state average transportationcost per pupil, some districts receivingreimbursements will basically have the state reimburse their costs for this transportation. If it happens in more than justa few districts, the impact of increasing any transportationcosts will bid up the cost per pupil and wind up reducing the amount of reimbursement for all districts above the state average.There already is a mechanism for lower income families to receive transportation support. The resident district is required to provide transportation for any families with annual income below 200% of the federal poverty level. The resident district has the authority to determine the transportationmethod, either allowing the receiving district to pick up the students, agreeing to transport the student with resident district buses, or providing reimbursement to the parents if they are required to transport. This cost is then subtracted from the resident district tuition paid to the receiving district. Empty buses from neighboring districts passing each other to pick up each other's students is seen by citizens and taxpayers as inefficient use of resources which it is. Part of the goal of Iowa's finance system is to maximize efficiency. This bill, although well intentioned, doesn't do that.