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Title:
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Purchase Semester Bus Passes for Students Attending the University of Florida's College Reach-Out Program (CROP)
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Title
Purchase Semester Bus Passes for Students Attending the University of Florida's College Reach-Out Program (CROP)
Explanation
The Regional Transit System is proposing the purchase with City Commission contingency funds of sixty semester passes three times a year for those public school students participating in the University of Florida's College Reach-Out Program (CROP). CROP identifies sixth through twelfth grade students from low-income, low-achieving backgrounds and provides tutoring and mentoring as a means for encouraging young people who otherwise do not see post-secondary education as an option. The tutoring sessions are offered four times weekly at the Rosa B. Williams Center located at 524 NW 1st Street. While over one hundred families have signed contracts to enter the program only twenty-five on the average attend daily tutoring sessions. The main reason for the lack of attendance is lack of transportation or funds for public transportation. Because these students are from low-income backgrounds, attendance is limited to those students who can get to the Center through means of their own. Through the City Commission's purchase of 60 bus passes per semester, it will afford Gainesville's disadvantaged young people an opportunity they otherwise would not have.
Fiscal Note
The estimated cost of purchasing 60 semester passes at $35.00 per pass, three times a year, would be $6,300 per year.
Recommendation
The City Commission authorizes the purchase, with contingency funds, of 60 semester passes for a total of $6,300 a year for those students participating in CROP.