Baltimore students will continue receiving free bus passes next year, after the city school board voted this week to dip into its rainy-day fund to support the program.
On Tuesday, the board approved transferring $2.15 million from the school system's $8.5 million contingency fund to continue providing passes for student transportation, which until this year were supported by the city's budget.
The city schools' budget director, Michael Frist, said drawing money from the contingency fund was the only way to come up with the money for the bus passes. The school board passed its $1.23 billion budget in April. The city's budget, which included the cut, was passed in June.
"The only other alternative we would have is to cut one of our [instructional] programs," Frist said.
This year, the city made its state-mandated contribution to Baltimore schools but cut its additional funding to the school system for the bus passes and its 50 percent contribution to fund a full force of crossing guards. Funding for 13 school-based health centers was also on the city's chopping block but was restored in the final city budget.
School board members expressed concern about future cuts from the city budget during the board meeting. Commissioner David Stone emphasized that "while we were able to mitigate it this year, if the city holds its position, it could mean cuts to our instructional programs."
Frist said the school system has not determined how it will fund the city's force of about 420 crossing guards, but that it will absorb the $2.6 million expense. The money will likely come from carryover funds from last year's budget, he said.
He said the school system would look to run the crossing guard and bus pass programs more efficiently. The system will closely monitor distribution of bus passes so that only students who are outside schools' designated walking distances receive them. About 362,000 MTA student ticket booklets were distributed last year.
He also said that while a full force of crossing guards will be deployed in August, the school system is working with the city to establish criteria for where to place them.