1996: $165 per student school bus fee rejected

In this third Washington Post article from 1996 we learn that the Board of Education rejected a public school bus fee pushed by the County Council.  The County Council had proposed a bus fee of $165 per student. 

Montgomery Schools Reject Bus Charge, Add Activity Fee; [FINAL Edition]
Dan Beyers. The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext). 

Washington, D.C.:Jun 12, 1996. pg. D.01

A divided Montgomery County school board voted yesterday to impose new fees for extracurricular activities and night school this fall but rebuffed a County Council recommendation to charge some students to ride buses.

By a 4 to 2 vote, Board of Education members approved the fees as part of their $915.1 million operating budget for the year that begins July 1.

Some board members said the fees were preferable to other budget-balancing options, such as increasing class sizes, cutting programs or denying teachers raises. Board member Stephen N. Abrams (2nd District), who sought unsuccessfully to impose a $165 bus fee on students attending magnet or other special academic programs, reminded board members that the school system already assesses a variety of fees for such things as photography classes and foreign language workbooks.

"If we weren't already a little bit pregnant, I could probably join" critics, said Abrams, who left the meeting before a final vote on the budget was taken.

Board President Ana Sol Gutierrez (3rd District) and board member Blair G. Ewing (4th District) cast the dissenting votes. Gutierrez said a $25-a-course fee for night school would financially punish students for whom the program is "a last resort."

"We've taken several actions that affect our most needy," Gutierrez said...

Since the school board began budget deliberations in the winter, the issue of fees has dominated its discussions. Board members originally proposed to charge all students $50 a year for bus transportation but quickly retreated after their legal counsel cautioned that such a fee might violate a student's right to a free education under the Maryland Constitution.

The County Council resurrected the idea in May when it proposed that students attending magnet or special academic programs pay $165 a year to ride a bus. The fee was legal, members argued, because magnet programs are optional; students can attend their local high schools for free.

Superintendent Paul L. Vance urged board members to reject the proposal.

...Board members were required to trim $8.1 million from their original budget request as a result of action last month by the County Council. The current year's budget is $878.1 million...