CMS transportation audit: 1,300 students shouldn't be on the bus

More than 1,300 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students will have to find other transportation after the district completed a transportation audit. WFAE's Simone Orendain reports: The district's student placement department started letting affected parents know last week that their children were getting bus service when they never should have been. The department says the 1,300 students were reassigned or transferred from their home school area, which meant they were not eligible for bus service. Officials found the error because of the district's efforts to meet budget reductions required by the state and county. Associate Superintendent Guy Chamberlain explains, "We had a notion that there were a number of students that were getting services because they were incorrectly coded. But when the budget shortfall came up we decided we'd better take a close look at it." Chamberlain says the correction will save $300,000. The CMS budget proposal for next year includes $64.5 million dollars for transportation. CMS is trying to cover an $86 million shortfall in next year's budget.