Prince George’s County doesn’t have the authority to make parents pay for children to ride the bus to school, according to an opinion from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. The school board’s budget calls for saving $8 million by implementing a transportation fee for students enrolled in magnet programs, which costs more than bus service for neighborhood schools. The proposal would not affect regular bus service.
“It is my view that, without authorization from the General Assembly, Prince George’s County is without the power to impose a charge for transporting public school students to and from school,” Bonnie A. Kirkland, an assistant attorney general in Maryland, wrote in a letter to Del. Jolene Ivey, a Prince George’s County Democrat who requested an opinion on the subject.
Kirkland wrote that even if the Maryland General Assembly allowed the county to implement a transportation fee, it still would raise “substantial constitutional issues.” Maryland courts have ruled that transportation is an “integral part” of education and therefore should be paid for by the state, she wrote.
The school system is facing a projected $155 million budget gap.
“The transportation component — not the programs themselves, but the transportation part — is not sustainable,” said Councilwoman Mary Lehman, D-Laurel, who has a daughter planning to attend a specialty program school. “What is the answer? I don’t know.”
In an email addressed to parents, Ivey celebrated the opinion: “I have four children in specialty programs and wasn’t relishing the idea of paying for transportation, so I’m relieved, just like many of you are, that the attorney general has found that we can’t take this path.”
Few details about the proposed fee have been disclosed. Lynn McCawley, a spokeswoman for the schools, said officials haven’t determined how much the fee would cost, but said it likely would be adjusted for families with multiple siblings and for low-income families. It’s not clear how the attorney general’s office opinion affects the proposal, she said.
“We have received a copy of the letter, and it is under review by our general counsel,” she said.
A bill that would have allowed Montgomery County to charge school bus fees for magnet school students was withdrawn this year after concerns about its constitutionality.
