Superior Offering Free DTA Rides For School To Secondary Students
Superior Mayor Jim Paine took to social media on Tuesday afternoon to announce that the city will now foot the bill for secondary students to get to school starting this fall. While bus routes are available for some students, state funding and other factors often leave students over a mile away from school left to walk.
With the climate in the Northland being so dangerously cold, it's an obstacle facing some students that don't have transportation. The Superior City Council met on the matter on Tuesday and approved covering the cost for Superior Secondary Students to ride the DTA to school. All they will need to do is show their student ID.
While this is a great step forward, there still is an issue for many families with elementary students who are far from school and are not currently on a school bus route. I know this personally, as our family is over a mile and a half from the school and we've never had a bus route option.
Why do you need to be 2 miles away from school to be eligible for a bus ride?
The state of Wisconsin only grants aid and finances to school districts for bus routes beyond the 2 mile radius. Anything closer is the school's responsibility. There have been staff shortages and financial obstacles in making this a reality in the city of Superior. You can read more about the regulations from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Superior hopes to figure out a way some day to expand busing for all students, but in the meantime at least this is a step in the right direction.
This should, as Mayor Paine has said, help some students be able to participate in extra curricular activities that they could previously not get transportation to. It's all about giving the students more opportunities.