Education is certainly a hot topic during this year’s legislative session in Des Moines. Among active bills affecting school districts is one de-regulating transportation time limits. Senate File 2137 would allow school boards to extend a student’s one-way time on a school bus from 60 to 75 minutes.

West Central Valley Superintendent Dr. David Arnold doesn’t see a benefit for his district if the bill were to be enacted. “We shouldn’t increase our time at all. I think that’s just unnecessary. We have 270-square-miles in our district, but we can get them all within an hour and that’s a bad day. That’s just way too long I think.”

The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday, by a 30-18 vote, mostly along party lines. The legislation, supported by the Iowa Association of School Boards and the Rural School Advocates of Iowa, now heads to the House for debate. To hear more from Arnold on this and other topics at West Central Valley, listen to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program.