Don't cut for athletic events.

Do cut for local kids that can easily WALK to school.

Back in the day we walked in the snow, uphill both ways...

Athletics aren't needed for education, but it gets kids in the seats that would otherwise drop out. I would suggest a schedule of ALL sporting events travel to occur on the same day meaning a school plays away for football, CC, Volleyball and soccer on the same day taking one bus for the little schools.

There would be plenty of money for busing in the rural districts if the urban districts would build enough schools of appropriate size in the neighborhoods they service.

Much, if not most, of the busing budget is used busing URBAN kids around town to big, regional schools, which also increases traffic and parental costs to transport kids around the city to school.

The urban districts build these big schools, which take students from all over, and then pass the busing costs on to the state. That makes it more difficult for rural districts who have no other choice to get funding for transportation.

If urban districts couldn't pass on those busing costs to the state, they would build smaller schools, closer to the people. This would reduce traffic, not to mention all the academic and social benefits of smaller schools.