Dean Nakanishi, a seventh-grade teacher at Alderwood Middle School, was alarmed when he heard that middle school activity bus routes in the Edmonds School District would be cut for fall.

The buses let students at the school participate in a homework help program and after-school clubs, as is the case at other district middle schools.

“It was a very valuable resource for a lot of our students, especially students who don’t have a lot of family support,” Nakanishi said of the after-school programs.

But thanks to a last-minute switch, it now looks like the buses could be restored for fall.

The buses were slated for elimination this spring to help fill a roughly $3 million hole in the 2008-09 budget. Cutting the buses would have saved about $45,000 a year.

But recently, Edmonds School Board members asked officials to put them back.

“I feel the amount of money we’re talking about, for a vulnerable population, is more than the dollar value,” said board member Ann McMurray.

Other board members concurred, so superintendent Nick Brossoit instructed staff to look at restoring them.

“This one area won’t sink the ship for the 2009-09 school year,” he said. “The amount you’re talking about is something we could figure out.”

The final budget will be presented to the board in August for adoption and would include all cuts and restorations for 2008-09.

While the activity bus service appears to have the board’s support, several other programs and services remain on the district’s chopping block.

Nakanishi has seen what after-school programs can do. For example, study club at Alderwood gives free tutoring to students who are falling behind.

“I’ve had students who were in danger of not being able to play sports or failing in general, and usually with support from parents and teachers you get in there and get their grades up and get them to passing,” Nakanishi said.

At Alderwood, students also have formed after-school clubs, including a board game club, rock climbing club, soccer club and Guitar Hero club, devoted to playing the video game. The clubs have faculty advisers.

It’s always preferable to offer positive activities to students this age, since unstructured time can be dangerous, Nakanishi said. Many studies show that weekdays between 3 and 6 p.m., before working parents get home, is when kids get into trouble, he added.

“Sometimes they go home and have a snack, do homework and chores; more often than not they play video games or are on the street with their friends,” he said.

Worse yet, they might be experimenting with drugs or causing trouble, he said.

He’s glad to see that the district might be restoring the buses.

Sarah Koenig is a reporter for The Enterprise in Lynnwood.