Iowa City schools, Plugge criticized over Regina busing dispute

IOWA CITY - Iowa City school officials, particularly Superintendent Lane Plugge, came under attack last night.

More than 40 Iowa City Regina parents and officials attended the Iowa City school board meeting, where the divisive Regina busing issue was voted on.

Click here for a story about the meeting and here and here for previous stories.

The school board voted to stop providing busing to students of the private K-12 school. Instead, the district plans to either make families responsible for getting students to school and then reimbursing them with state funds, or send to Regina the state transportation dollars the district gets and then Regina can arrange its own busing.

Plugge backed either of those two options because they are revenue neutral for the school district. Ending the busing arrangement would save the district $260,000 a year, he said.

The catch for Regina is that it probably will cost them money if they arrange for their own busing. Public districts are reimbursed by the state for transporting non-public students, but it usually does not cover the full cost.  The Iowa City school district estimates it will be repaid $173,013 this year, but it puts the cost of operating 11 buses for Regina at $432,531.

Last night's decision would in effect make Regina responsible for that difference in the future – unless the parent reimbursement option is chosen.

Regina has about 450 bus-eligible students this school year out of a total enrollment of 855. About 260 of its students rode buses last month.

Regina President Carol Trueg said she was “astounded” to learn Friday of Plugge's recommendations, saying she didn't feel all options were fully explored.

She also criticized Plugge for saying at the last meeting that the $260,000 in projected savings was equal to five teachers. She said the effect of that statement was to “drive a wedge” in the community.

Plugge said that wasn't his intent. And board member Mike Cooper stuck up for him, saying board members often did the same thing when talking about the budget because it helped put dollar figures into perspective.

Trueg said she spoke to another superintendent about the busing dispute and that person's take was that the Iowa City school district wanted Regina kids. (Public school districts receive money from the state for each pupil enrolled in their schools.)

This argument runs counter to one that many Regina backers are making on message boards: if the buses stop, a lot of students will have to leave Regina for public schools, and the increase will stress the Iowa City school district's budget by creating a need for more classrooms and teachers.  

Also, as reported, the Rev. Rudolph Juarez wondered aloud if “anti-Catholic bias” was behind the decision. He also said “the Catholics are going to be thrown off the bus.”

Several school board members rejected that claim. 

David Krummel, principal at Regina Junior/Senior High School, said there was “misinformation” going around. He also shared a comment he claims Plugge made in a private conversation that, if true, would reflect poorly on Plugge  – but I'm not going into that any more than this because it's hearsay. You can watch a replay of the meeting on TV if interested.

Board members said they had heard from a lot of Iowa City school district parents who oppose the district providing busing for Regina students. Board President Patti Fields said she'd received hundreds of e-mails.

Twain Elementary School parent Chris Conrad spoke at the meeting, saying budget cuts are coming and anything the district can do to mitigate that would be a good investment for the district.

Regina backers also questioned some of the numbers used by the district. Trueg said the estimated $260,000 was not accurate because three of the 11 Regina buses also transport Iowa City school students, so they'd have to continue to run anyway. She projected that number at $140,000 for eight buses.

Plugge said the sharing was related to a federal education law that requires the district to allow students to transfer from underperforming schools. One of the schools the district designated for transfers was Hoover Elementary because Regina had room on buses near that route, he said.

Kummel said efficiencies could be gained by busing more Regina and Iowa City school district students together. Many Regina buses are not near their capacity, he said. Parent Mary Murphy said her kids' bus has 12 children on it. 

Plugge said the problem with many of the proposed compromises was they conflicted with state requirements on how long students can be on a bus and how far they can walk to a bus stop.

The Iowa City school district is a geographically large district, and Regina has students from across the area.