The board also decided to eliminate nine different bus routes and increase the distance some students will have to walk from their homes to the bus stops.

The district opted for these moves to help balance a projected $9 million to $11 million shortfall for the 2005-06 school year. The decision should save the district $830,000 in transportation costs each year, according to a district report.

Instead of choosing one of the seven options district officials had floated a week earlier, board members combined pieces from several options into a "hybrid model."

"It's really a response to safety issues," Trustee Pam Foley told the Almaden Resident after an April 21 meeting.

District officials originally proposed increasing the allowable distance all students can walk to school, but the board voted against any such increase for elementary school students. Middle and high school students will now be expected to hoof it for up to 31Ž2 miles instead of three, allowing the district to cut seven school bus routes.

At an April 19 public forum, both parents and transportation workers expressed concerns for students' safety if they had to walk farther to and from their bus stops. Bus driver Kathy Oliver said many children on her route wouldn't have another option.

"I transport kids whose parents don't have cars," Oliver said. "I've heard a lot tonight about money and budgets and not about children's welfare."

While some contract employees stand to lose their jobs due to these budget cuts, none of the district's permanent transportation workers will be laid off, district spokeswoman Karen Fuqua told the Resident.

The district will also eliminate bus service to elementary magnet schools, which would affect about 256 students and cut two more bus routes. After factoring out the families that meet the district's low-income criteria, about remaining 1,350 students in the district who take the bus will be charged for transportation services.

District officials said that they plan to implement a fee of $300 for families of single students and charge a sliding-scale rate for families with two or more students.

While individual schools will be responsible for working out any traffic problems resulting from reduced school bus service, Fuqua said, the district will encourage families to establish carpools and walking pools to ease campus congestion before and after school hours. District officials also plan to negotiate with the Valley Transit Authority to create a discount pass for students.

At the public forum, district alumna Danielle Ramirez said the VTA didn't have a great track record of getting her to school on time.

"I was always half an hour late to class because I had to take light rail," Ramirez said.

Rose Bedard, the district's director of auxiliary services, said the VTA offers direct routes to school sites.

"We've had very little complaint about their services," Bedard added.

About 10,000 students in the district are eligible for transportation services, Fuqua said, but only about 4,500 students, or 14 percent of the district's total enrollment, use them.

The district says it is pursuing budget cuts in the wake of declining enrollment, which has led to a decrease in state funding.

Earlier this year, the board voted to close Randol and Cory elementary schools and Steinbeck Middle School next fall, which district administrators expect to save $1.9 million per year. Another move has the district combining the student populations from Randol and Allen elementary schools and moving them to the Steinbeck campus.

The district is anticipating a $40.9-million cumulative budget gap over the next four years.