Hillsborough to pinch pennies in busing

In an increasingly gloomy economic environment, Hillsborough School Board members are talking about doing away with courtesy busing to private daycare centers and other extras appreciated by parents, but expensive and difficult to provide.

Beginning in the fall, district officials recommend that schools no longer will provide free transportation to for-profit, private daycare operations. The district plans to ensure that it has fee-based options for before- and after-school care at the nearly two-dozen schools, mostly in the northern suburbs, where large numbers of students would be affected. Officials didn't have exact figures, but estimated that about 150 daycare programs and 2,000 students currently are taking advantage of the free rides.

Parents also could no longer send a note to school authorizing their child to ride home on a different bus than normal, for example to go to a friend's house. Exceptions would be made in emergency situations. And school officials want crack down on "space available" bus riders, or students who aren't eligible for transportation, but in the past have been able to hop on a bus going past their neighborhood if space was available. The district is concerned about safety and making sure all that it can account for all students.

Many of the transportation changes have been discussed over the past year as the district looked to overhaul its transportation programs, but are even more salient during tough budget times. School officials are looking to see if they pinch pennies in a range of other programs, including nursing services, guidance services, middle and high school athletics and the distribution of media specialists.