Less than one in five Lawrence public school students losing a district-subsidized free bus ride have signed up for the new pay-to-ride transit system.

The low response rate inhibits the ability of Laidlaw Transit, which holds the district’s bus contract, to organize routes and schedules.

“We knew going in … there would be a decrease in ridership. We weren’t really sure how much,” Rick Gammill, the district’s director of transportation, told the school board Monday night.

The board voted earlier this year to require students living less than 2.5 miles from school to begin paying for bus rides in 2002-2003.

Students living beyond that distance are required by law to receive a free ride. Special-education students and children in the free- and reduced-lunch program are exempt from the fee.

The district’s annual fee was set at $240 per child for round trip fare. It was expected to generate $160,000 for the district, part of an $850,000 fee-enhancement package.

Even the 2,000 students still eligible for a free ride those living outside the 2.5-mile limit have been slow to turn in required bus pass forms. By last count, less than 25 percent of these students had submitted applications to Laidlaw.

However, the frequency of complaints about the new pay-to-ride system is picking up steam.

Board president Scott Morgan said he had started to receive more calls from parents concerned about pay-to-ride as well as other student fees.

“The cost is a significant problem,” said Morgan, who has two children who won’t ride a bus because of the cost. “The community as a whole, not just parents, should be paying for this.”

During the meeting, Lawrence resident Sonja Johnson gave the entire board a glimpse of the distress parents are experiencing.

“Pay-to-ride causes financial hardship,” said Johnson, a state employee who has a daughter in junior high school. “It’s going to create a safety issue for our children who will now will be forced to walk.”

She said reduction in bus service could prompt increases in student absenteeism and tardies.

Despite a July 15 deadline for avoiding a $20 late fee, Laidlaw received applications by Friday for just 738 students out of nearly 3,500 expected to submit forms.

Gammill said Laidlaw would have employees at each school during enrollment periods to distribute information on pay-to-ride.

Drivers will pick up all students waiting for a bus at the start of the school year Aug. 14.

“We won’t leave any child standing on a country road or a city street,” Gammill said.

Ridership on all routes will be evaluated two weeks after the start of school. Routes may be consolidated.