Dakota Valley School District which is located in North Sioux City, South Dakota and includes North Sioux City, Dakota Dunes and surrounding area BANS students from riding bike to/from school. This includes the elementary, junior high and high schools. They also offer literal door to door bus service. From what I have heard from the Superintendant there are some students who live pretty much across from and just down the block a little from the school grounds and they are picked up and dropped off by the bus. At most this is a quarter mile for some of thes students. The Superintendant would like to change this because it is costing him at least $75,000 a year to bus these kids who live a mile or closer to the school. Here is the ironic thing; There is an MUP going right past one of the schools.
Why?
The school board made this decision some time ago for the "safety of the kids." Yet it costs tens of thousands of dollars and causes a lot of traffic congestion problems around the schools. Every time the issue is brought up to change it, it is voted down. There are some pretty powerful people on the Dakota Valley School Board. The Dakota Dunes area is where a lot of the influential people with money have gone to live. This is just on the other side of the border of Iowa and South Dakota.
Either someone very powerful with a lot of influence who is still on the school board pushed this and had it passed. Or someone who is not on the school board with money, influence and power in the district managed to be heard on the matter and had it passed.
The problem is not always the parents driving the kids to school. The problem also lays with the school board.