“The Transportation Department needs your help in increasing school bus ridership,” LAPS Superintendent Gene Schmidt. “The school district has a responsibility to transport students; but, it is becoming increasingly difficult to finance transportation with a diminished ridership.”

On one day a year, known as the 40 day count, Los Alamos Public Schools must count students riding to or from school on a school bus. This number, called an enrollment number, is requested annually by the New Mexico Public Education Department. The numbers generated from a solitary day actually establishes the base funding for our school district, for the entire year.

“School bus ridership carries a tremendous financial impact to the district,” Schmidt said. “As ridership has fallen over the past three years, so has funding from the state.”

The school bus riding rules state students in K-6^th grades must live one or more miles away, students in middle school must live at least 1.5 miles away, and students in high school must live at least two or more miles away.

“Students and parents have an opportunity to really help the district turn around the declining trend in ridership and funding by encouraging their children to ride the school bus on Oct. 8,” Schmidt said.

The District plans to sweeten school bus ridership on that day with ice cream with a little help from their friends at Daniel’s Haagen Dazs. The team effort will allow school bus drivers to reward eligible students that ride to or from school on Oct. 8 with a coupon for an ice cream cone.  

“Special kudos go to coaches and staff hosting events on that day that chose to reschedule, postpone, or adjust events schedule on the morning of Oct. 8,” Schmidt said. “Also give praise to parents, who adjusted their schedule to get kids to the school bus stop on that day. In addition, offer thanks to students, who don’t normally ride the school bus, for choosing to ride the school bus that day.”