District 204 says $161,000 in fuel was saved in first year of new school boundaries

After undergoing an arduous process of redrawing school boundaries, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 officials said they saved $161,000 in fuel expenses in the first year of new bus routes.

In addition, officials said, buses traveled 284,000 fewer miles during the 2022-23 school year than the previous year and used 35,000 fewer gallons of fuel to transport nearly 17,000 students.

District 204 is the state's fourth-largest school district. Its 34 schools serve roughly 26,000 students in Aurora, Bolingbrook, Naperville and Plainfield.

"That does decrease the amount of routes, the amount of drivers and just other costs associated with our transportation system," said Matt Shipley, the district's chief school business official. "Overall, we believe that, from a transportation aspect, this reboundary work was a success for us."

Transportation concerns were among the complaints lodged by parents during the boundary redrawing process. The district provides busing for students who live 1½ miles or more from their school, which left numerous families without transportation after previously having bus service.

The district will spend more than $26 million on transportation this school year, with funding coming from the state and property taxes. District buses will travel nearly 2.5 million miles this school year.

Safety hazards, which families complained about when informed they'd no longer receive busing, continue to be evaluated by officials. Students who live within 1½ miles of school but have hazards on their walking path can receive busing.

Among the most serious hazards are walkways close to a roadway or no walkway at all. Crossing a roadway at an intersection also is considered a hazard, as is crossing a railroad track.

The criteria determining the severity of hazards include the age of the students affected and the length of the hazardous section.

Ron Johnson, the district's director of support operations, said 68 areas within district borders are at some stage of the hazard evaluation process. Thirty have been verified by the Illinois Department of Transportation, and 28 need to be evaluated fully.

Johnson said hazards are defined by IDOT and rated through a set of data points.

"It doesn't matter which street, which crossing, which roadway, which walkway," he said. "The criteria stays the same."