Tough situation. We did the daycare thing, and the after school thing. The problem is, you have to be there to pick them up at 5:30 p.m. no matter what. For us it was $1 a minute for every minute you are late. They both provide transportation, so they would go to your kids school and pick them up or the bus dropped them off at day care. Its also expensive.
During the summer, we paid a 17 year old girl to watch our kids two summers. It cost the same amount as daycare, but she could drive them places if needed, such as baseball, swimming etc. Once again expensive, I think we were paying her at least $250 a week. You can try to setup someone like a teenager to be at your house evenings, you can find trustworthy ones by asking around, but expect to pay them $8-$10 an hour.
Part of living in the country is driving a lot, you may not have a choice. The other choice it to try and skirt the school district boundaries by cheating, but I can't recomend that. They try and draw those boundaries fairly, but it doesn't always work out that way. You can try and change those boundaries, but its a difficult process and you probably won't have any luck with it.
I looked at where you live on the map, and your are right, its kind of in the middle of nowhere. Good luck.
