CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) is set to increase the number of students using Metro buses for transportation in the upcoming school year as part of efforts to address a $52 million budget gap.
The school board voted in May to require all seventh and eighth graders to ride Metro buses. New details recently released show that those students will come from 13 schools and will also include high schoolers who hadn’t ridden Metro previously.
It will add approximately 1,300 more students to the service, which carried about 10,500 CPS students in 2024.
The decision followed a board vote in May and is expected to save the district $2.9 million annually. CPS chief operating officer Chris Burkhardt explained that the cost of a traditional school bus is about $3,000 per student per year, compared to $364 for Metro.
“My message to the parents is, you know, we have 10,000 students who ride Metro every single day during the school year. So, we’re just adding additional students. It’s a very safe and reliable way for students to get from home to school every single day,” said Burkhardt.
The move, however, raises safety concerns, as incidents of violence were reported at transfer stations such as Northside and downtown’s Government Square and Fountain Square.
Metro spokesperson Brandy Jones addressed the concerns about violence at the stops.
“Yeah, unfortunately, there were a few incidents of just a small group of kids who were misbehaving, quite frankly. And we’ve worked very closely with our community partners, with CPS, with the city, with the police departments, and with community advocates to really talk about what can be done,” said Jones.
“I would say Metro is just as safe as riding a yellow bus. We have a lot of folks out in the community who are making sure that it’s safe, it’s reliable, and it’s a great way to get from home to school,” said Burkhardt.
Jones also noted that Metro is tracking the bus cards to prevent misuse by students not authorized to travel downtown.
The district is now only $4 million away from closing the budget shortfall.
Previous cuts included:
- Reducing vendor contracts by 16%.
- Pausing the launch of the Central Corridor Montessori School.
- Freezing and eliminating several hundred vacant positions.
- Ending the district’s contract with the Cincinnati Health Department for nurses and moving that in house.
The school board is scheduled to meet on Monday and again in July to discuss further measures to address the remaining deficit.