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Fairfax County Public Schools could limit transportation for students who remain at their current schools after new boundary assignments take effect, with Superintendent Michelle Reid expected to recommend bus service only for affected high school seniors.

The proposal comes after the school board approved its first comprehensive boundary overhaul in decades. Although the changes affect a small share of the district’s roughly 177,000 current students, FCPS estimates that transporting every eligible student who chooses to stay at their existing school would cost millions of dollars.

Of the 1,637 students assigned to new schools under the plan approved in January, 911 may choose either their newly assigned school or their current one. That group includes 69 high school seniors.

The school board’s phasing policy, updated last July, extends that choice to students in the final two grades of elementary school and to middle, high and secondary school students—except those entering the first year at those levels.

Providing transportation for all students who remain at their current schools would cost an estimated $3.1 million and require 23 additional drivers and buses, according to a presentation prepared for the board’s 7 p.m. Thursday meeting. The projected cost would rise to $4.24 million if the district bought only electric buses rather than diesel models.

By comparison, FCPS estimates that serving only the 69 affected seniors would cost $241,386.

The presentation points to a potentially tight budget, limited driver availability and parking constraints as factors behind Reid’s recommendation. She also plans to ask the board to prioritize expanded transportation for additional grades if unspent money is available when the fiscal year ends June 30.

Hunter Mill District board member Melanie Meren says the proposal conflicts with an FCPS policy promising daily bus service to students who live more than 1 or 1.5 miles from school. The policy does not specify whether that school must be within the student’s assigned boundary.

Meren said losing transportation could force freshmen and sophomores to leave academic programs, teams, bands, teachers and friendships at their current schools, even though the phasing policy otherwise permits them to remain.

She said families have been struggling with uncertainty over whether their children will have bus access. Meren and Mason District representative Ricardy Anderson instead plan to propose using reserve money to provide transportation for every affected student.

According to Meren, the board has an $8 million flexibility reserve that FCPS has previously used for routine expenses, including facility assessments and administrative office hiring.

Meren said the alternative proposal will need six votes and urged families to attend Thursday’s meeting and advocate for continued transportation.