Waunakee board restores limited busing for K–8 students living 1–1.75 miles from new middle school

Waunakee Community School District administrators proposed and the board approved a change to board policy 751 that sets a consistent one‑mile transportation eligibility for students in kindergarten through eighth grade and restores busing for students who live between 1.0 and 1.75 miles from the district’s new middle school.

Steve Summers, who presented the plan, said the change would bring consistency across K–8 and would be accomplished by adjusting existing shuttle routes rather than adding new vehicles. “What we are proposing…is to change it through 8th grade,” Summers said, explaining that one of the buses that currently runs out of town would return to pick up students within the 1.0 to 1.75‑mile range and drop them at the middle school.

The district told the board the proposal would affect roughly 190 students and likely have minimal or no cost impact because the plan repurposes an existing route. Summers described the routing approach: the second bus leaving elementary schools would come back into town and pick up students at predetermined locations along a straight thoroughfare to maximize efficiency.

Several parents had urged the board to act. Cammy Dodge, a parent and longtime resident, said the 1.75‑mile boundary exposed students to unsafe crossings and winter hazards. “When I picture my soon‑to‑be 7th grader walking nearly 2 miles to school on a dark January morning, crossing busy roads and snow and below zero windchills, I simply don’t believe that that is a reasonable expectation,” Dodge said during public comment.

Board members asked for follow‑up data on ninth‑grade impacts and the number of families likely to opt out of busing; administrators said they would bring detailed maps and opt‑out figures to the policy committee in July. The board approved the revised policy language by voice vote.