Charging a fee for school bus transportation may be one of the easier budget-cutting measures Lawrence school board members will have to consider.

It’s disappointing that the city and school district apparently won’t be able to work together formally to reduce the cost of transporting local children to school. However, an informal arrangement that allows more children and parents to take advantage of the city T system still seems to be a possibility.

While watching state lawmakers debate various proposals that would cut deeply into the budgets for K-12 education across the state, local officials are looking at ways to deal with those cuts. It is not a pretty picture, and many of the local budget reductions would involve services both in and out of the classroom that many local patrons consider essential.

One of those is transporting students to school. The Lawrence district currently provides free bus services to elementary students who live more than 1.5 miles from school, junior high students more than 2 miles from school and high school students more than 2.5 miles from school. A proposal to save the district $435,000 a year by providing free bus service only for students who live more than 2.5 miles from school currently is being considered by the school board.

Lawrence appears to be out of step with other area districts that charge a fee for transporting students. It seems clear that some pay-to-ride plan for school busing should be on the table as the local school board members consider belt-tightening measures. The fees probably wouldn’t cover the full cost of running the school buses, but they could significantly lower the cost to the district. Busing is a big convenience that parents should be willing to pay for.

Making use of the city T might be an option for some families. Although city officials say they can’t alter routes and schedules just to accommodate school children, that doesn’t mean the system still wouldn’t be convenient for many families. And it would be great to see students boosting ridership on the bus system that already is heavily subsidized by city taxpayers. Students already ride the bus at a reduced rate; perhaps a new fare category could be created for those who ride on a daily basis.

In the big scheme of things, a fee system for bus transportation probably won’t be the most painful cost-cutting measure the local school board will have to consider. It may be far more palatable to charge for an extra, noncurricular service like busing than to make other cuts that have a more direct impact on the education offered in our public schools.