Milwaukee Public Schools will spend the next year deciding how to cut $3.5 million in transportation costs, said David Fifarek, the district’s senior director of transportation services.
The move comes after the district commissioned a report from consultant 4MATIV, which offered several recommendations to save money.
Fifarek said the district is taking the next year to monitor Milwaukee County Transit System route changes, garner community feedback and look at how to balance saving money with safety.
Bell times
Bell times could shift at some schools so start and end times are spaced out more evenly. For example, Fifarek said the district may ask a school to end at 4:10 p.m. instead of 4 p.m.
He said the district projects this could help ensure more afternoon buses are on time by easing the compression of service that makes late-afternoon buses run behind.
Students might have to walk farther to catch the bus
MPS currently caps the distance a student walks to their bus stop at a quarter of a mile for elementary students and half a mile for middle and high school students.
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4MATIV found that Milwaukee’s stop distance policy had much shorter caps than other large districts.
Fifarek said consolidating stops could save about $11 million, but the district is weighing how to implement this solution without sending children to cross busy streets.
“If you just flat out implemented a half-a-mile and a quarter-mile policy, you could potentially be having kids crossing Capitol Drive, Hampton Avenue … some of these really busy roads,” Fifarek said. “We talk about $11 million of savings … you might create some safety issues and risks in the process.”
Expanding MCTS reliance
About 1,500 Milwaukee Public Schools students take MCTS buses to school. 4MATIV suggested assigning another 800 students to county buses.
Fifarek said the district’s plan will largely depend on how MCTS will change its coverage and ride frequency in the next year.
“If that coverage model changes, then we’re going to have to pivot and then reinstate some yellow buses or some other form of transportation to replace the void that might be created by the county transit system,” Fifarek said.
MCTS is starting its own transportation overhaul MCTS Forward, which will engage with stakeholders including MPS, balancing how to best service residents while addressing an ongoing budget deficit, an MCTS spokesperson said.
Special education changes
About 2.5% of MPS students, including those experiencing homelessness and students with disabilities, require specialized transportation.
These services cost the district $11.8 million, and now the transportation department is looking to cut costs. One proposed change could include offering a stipend to parents or guardians who drive their kids who require transportation in their Individualized Education Plans to school.
If the district moves forward with this option, Fifarek said it would start by offering the reimbursement to students newly identified for an IEP, then would start offering it as IEPs are reviewed.
Other considerations include combining specialized service routes where buses or vans drop off students to several different schools, and widening pickup and dropoff windows from 10 to 20 minutes for high-cost services.
How to get involved
Fifarek said the transportation department is accepting feedback. It plans to discuss the transportation overhaul at District Advisory Council meetings.
Those interested in sharing their thoughts can attend meetings on the first Thursday of each month from October to May from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The 2026-27 schedule has not been updated yet, but meetings are held virtually and can be found here.
Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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