Lawrence school district students who pay to ride the bus likely will pay less in the future.

“We think getting kids to school is pretty fundamental,” school board member Cindy Yulich said.

The school board on Monday moved forward with plans to slash the district’s pay-to-ride bus charges. Board members will vote on the issue at their next meeting, which is Nov. 27.

Currently the district collects $260 per student every year. And there’s no discount for families with multiple children.

But the new plan would cost $200 per student annually and $100 for a second child. Additional kids in the family would be free. That means the most a family would have to pay would be $300.

“Trying to take care of some of that pain has always been first on our list,” Yulich said.

The board is reviewing the district’s fees, hoping to give students and parents a reprieve after years of rising costs.

The district charges fees for textbook rentals, technology, instructional materials, parking, courses and other services.

Also Monday, the board discussed changing course fees, though the topic won’t be up for a vote at the next meeting. Instead, district staff will do more research on the subject.

“To think that some students aren’t able take a course because we’ve imposed a fee that they cannot afford – it’s an equity issue,” board member Linda Robinson said.

In other business, the board approved the $472,000 purchase of Skyward, a student information management software tool, and $102,000 for NutriKids software system, a program that updates the district’s food service software.