"I think we're going to try to work with the city," Edwards said. "We want very much to do it. I think the city very much wants to do it. The issue is capacity."

At Edwards' previous school system, Muncie Community Schools, high school students took city buses to school. However, buses in Muncie are full-sized, whereas Marion city buses only seat 20 people.

Currently, MCS is busing roughly 635 students, Edwards said. If those students were bused by the city, they would have to ride with other adults in the community. Otherwise, the city would be in violation of its state and federal grants. That's why Edwards said he only wants to consider busing the high school students by the city.

"I think parents would accept that more than to have first- and second-graders on the bus with adults," he said.

Edwards said he and others are looking at Muncie's model and possibly one in Lafayette to get ideas. They're still in the research phase.

John Lawson, manager of Marion Area Public Transportation System, said there are some advantages to working with MCS, but also said it would be a tremendous undertaking.

The transportation system's grant dollars are, in part, tied to ridership. Adding Marion High School students would increase riders and, thus, the money coming into the program. But Lawson also worries about capacity and manpower.

"We've got to be careful," Lawson said. "We want to make sure that anything and everything we do is in the best interest of the people in Marion."

Lawson said a lot of questions remain, but he's happy MCS is only considering it for high school students. He said high school students typically have more options for carpooling and getting rides from friends, and they would also be more able to figure out bus connections.