Court Rejects Fees for School Bus Service

SAN FRANCISCO —  The California Supreme Court on Thursday let stand an appellate decision that struck down a state law allowing local school districts to charge fees for student bus service.

A state Court of Appeal had ruled last May that the statute violated the state constitutional rights to free public school education and to equal protection of the law.

Although not required to do so, 954 of the state’s 1,023 districts provide transportation to school, according to state officials. However, 67 of those districts in urban and rural areas have been charging fees under the statute that was invalidated by the appeal court.

The high court’s action came in a brief order rejecting an appeal of the May ruling by state School Supt. Bill Honig and other state officials. Only one court member--Justice John A. Arguelles--voted to hear the case. Votes from four of the seven justices are required for review.

Confusing Move

However, in a move that confused attorneys in the case, the justices also barred the official publication of the Court of Appeal decision--an action that ordinarily limits the effect of an appellate ruling to the parties in the case and prevents the decision from being used as a statewide legal precedent.

Attorneys for a group of parents in Ventura County who brought suit against Honig and other officials challenging the fee statute said that Thursday’s action would effectively bar any district in the state from charging bus fees. Under the ruling, state officials, as defendants in the suit, are required to prohibit local districts from making such charges, the attorneys said.

“We consider this a big victory,” said Robert K. Miller, a lawyer for Channel Counties Legal Services in Oxnard. “It is tantamount to an affirmance of the (May) decision.”

Miller also said it was far from assured that districts that had charged fees now could simply end all bus service. “There are very serious legal questions over whether districts can do that,” he said.

Cautious Assessment

State officials were cautious in assessing Thursday’s action, saying they still had doubt that the state could prevent local districts from charging fees.

“The districts are very autonomous--they run their own show,” said Taylor Carey, an attorney for the state Department of Education. “I know the plaintiffs in this case are thrilled but we feel the law doesn’t necessarily establish our authority over the districts on this question.”

Carey said the department would await an order by a Ventura County Superior Court implementing the appeal court ruling in order to assess the state’s authority to act. Meanwhile, he said, local districts that charge fees should consult with their own legal counsel on what steps to take next.

Carey also said he was “seriously concerned” that a number of districts would drop bus service altogether--an action he said they could take lawfully. “This case may backfire on the plaintiffs if districts simply end service,” he said. “That would hurt both indigents and families that can afford to pay--and that’s not a positive development.”

Economic Hardship

The suit at issue was brought in 1985 by lawyers for Francisco Salazar, Irene Villalobos and others who contended that while poor families were eligible for a waiver of local bus fees, many others on low incomes found the charges an economic hardship.

For some families, the plaintiffs said, the choice at times was between buying groceries or sending their children to school on a bus. In several instances, children without passes or money to pay the 25-cent daily fee were prevented from boarding buses, they said.