We have arguments about driving kids to school here in the UK. We have bus fares paid if a child lives more than 1 mile away (under 11) or 3 miles away (over 11) but very few schools have school buses as such, as I believe you do over there. The kids usually catch the ordinary service buses.
Some of our schools, in an effort to encourage children to walk, organise walking buses, where a group of kids walk together under supervision from adults who work on a rota and are police checked. There's lots of local sponsorship and publicity. The schools are usually eager to promote walking, both for health reasons and for traffic reasons.