The appellants seek reversal of a decision made by the Lake Mills Community School District board to deny his request to allow the Forest City Community School District school bus to enter the district and transport their children who attend Forest City under open enrollment.

Over the past four years, the appellants transported their children to school bus stop site located inside the Forest City boundary, approximately two miles from their home. There have been a couple of occasions where the family has had difficulty getting to the stop, causing concerns about the children's safety. They asked both Lake Mills and Forest City to allow the Forest City school bus within the boundaries of Lake Mills to transport the children; Lake Mills denied the request. The appellants are requesting an explanation for the board's rationale behind the denial.

The law gives districts the option to allow transportation across boundaries but does not require it. The State Board has often repeated that it is not free to reverse the action of a local board "absent proof that it was made arbitrarily, capriciously, without basis of fact, upon error of law, without legal authority, or unless it constitutes an abuse of discretion". While being sympathetic to the appellants' situation, there is no legal basis for the State Board to overturn the decision of the Lake Mills' board.

The decision of the Lake Mills Community School District to not enter into a transportation agreement with Forest City Community School District is affirmed.