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District offers to pay $250 to hundreds of parents to drive their own kids to school


FILE — School buses parked in Helena, Mont., ahead of the beginning of the school year, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Iris Samuels)
FILE — School buses parked in Helena, Mont., ahead of the beginning of the school year, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Iris Samuels)
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BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore City Public Schools is offering to pay several hundred parents to transport their own children to school this month.

The payment for September would be a $250 stipend, according to a reimbursement form obtained by WBFF News in Baltimore.

A spokesperson for Baltimore City Schools says the families of 771 students received the offer.

Tyreis Brown-Bond, the mother of a first-grade student, says she was offered the transportation stipend this week.

In my case, I would have to use rideshare -- Lyft, Uber -- because I do not drive," she said.

Brown-Bond indicated public transportation is not feasible for her situation.

The reimbursement form provided to parents says students must have a 95% attendance rate to qualify for the payment.

The district says it is possible the transportation stipends could extend beyond September.

The district says funding for this program comes from a "yearly parent reimbursement budget" and any additional money would come out of the contractor payment budget.

This offer to pay parents for transportation comes during a statewide shortage of school bus drivers.

On Monday, about 30 Baltimore bus drivers called out of work on the first day of school.

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