SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Southlake's Carroll Independent School District headed back to class on Tuesday, and for some students, it cost a little extra.
Carroll this year raised the price of its school bus pass to $350 for the full year, or $205 for the fall semester, per student. Family pass prices were set at $730 for the full year or $415 for the fall semester.
While Carroll offered a discounted rate if passes were purchased before July 17 -- $325 for the year, $180 for the semester, per student, and $705 for the year or $390 for the semester, per family -- the prices were an uptick from last year.
The early-purchase discounted rates for 2023-24 were $290 for the year and $156 for the semester, per student, and $605 and $312, per family. The full rates (purchased Aug. 1 or later) were $315 for the year and $168 for the semester, per student, and $630 and $341, per family.
Carroll's bus pass program is certainly rare in North Texas, where most districts offer free transportation to students who live at least two miles from their school. Some districts, like the Plano Independent School District, offer busing for students who live less than two miles from school for a fee -- in Plano's case, $500 per year. But any district that takes money from the state for transportation services, known in budgetary terms as an "allotment," is required to provide transportation for students who live outside that two-mile radius of the school.
Carroll has long funded its bus services through the pass program.
Community Impact, which covers Southlake and other North Texas communities, last year reported on Carroll considering raising the price of its bus passes.
According to district data obtained by Community Impact, Carroll brought in $856,191 in bus pass sales for the 2022-2023 school year, with around 3,800 passes sold.
Like all districts in Texas, Carroll must provide free transportation for "special-program students" who may have a disability or require specialized transportation to school.