By Celine Klosterman
IOWA CITY — An Ames-based transportation provider will supply bus service to Regina Catholic Education Center next year.
Regina’s school board approved a contract with CIT Charters, Inc., last month that calls for payment to CIT of $239,000. Regina is responsible for fuel costs as well, said President Carol Trueg.
Six buses will transport about 290 students. Eleven buses ran to Regina last year, but the school aimed to reduce the number of vehicles used to increase efficiency and cut costs.
Some of the school’s expenses will be covered by state reimbursement, though Trueg said Regina’s not sure how much that reimbursement will be. Regina and the Iowa City Community School District approved a contract in May that stipulates the school will receive either the district’s average transportation cost per student or Regina’s cost per student — whichever is less. The total will be “less at least 10 percent due to the state budget shortfalls,” Trueg said.
Regina asked families to pay $50 per student to ride the bus.
The future of bus service to the school had become unclear after the Iowa City School Board voted in December 2009 to stop providing transportation for Regina after the most recent academic year. The measure sought to save the Iowa City Community School District about $260,000.
The district instead opted to give the money it’s reimbursed from the state – about $173,000 this past year – to Regina, which will use it to arrange its own busing.
