Lynn schoolbuses keep on rolling

LYNN – Despite a call from some to eliminate the transportation line from the School Department budget, administrators say parking buses is simply not an option in the city.With 133 employees on the chopping block and another school closing due to budget cuts, everyone from parents to School Committee members are trying to come up with ideas to trim any additional fat from an already bare-bones budget.As cash-strapped communities such as Randolph continue to operate without buses, some are calling for Lynn to do the same, but administrators say the circumstance in the city is much different and cutting bus service to those that need it goes against state regulations.The $661,892 proposed transportation budget is down from the $668,693 allotted in fiscal year 2009.Lynn operates eight yellow buses in the morning and 10 in the afternoon, but those vehicles only transport elementary school students who are forced to attend an out-of-district school due to special circumstances, such as English as a second-language learners and special needs kids.The state requires school districts to provide busing to any student in elementary school who lives over a mile and a half from their school. In Lynn, the district has reduced that distance to a mile, but only students who have special circumstances or have been redistricted due to racial balance are bused, because those are the only students attending out of district schools.Students in middle and high school who require transportation to out of district schools, required by the state if they live more than two miles away, are given free MBTA Charlie Cards for public transportation, a line item that has been reduced from $25,000 in 2009 to $20,000 in the proposed FY ’10 budget”I think a lot of confusion arises with the buses because people think that we are picking up every kid on the corner and driving them down the streets to their neighborhood schools,” said Transportation Manager David Hegan. “But they have to be in elementary school, in an out-of-district program and over a mile from their school to take the bus.”Aside from the $20,000 for Charlie Cards, the transportation budget includes $455,000 for regular busing, which is handled by North Reading Transportation, and just over $9,200 for supplies and technology in the transportation office, along with $127,669 in salary for Hegan and one clerk.The $107 million-plus School Department budget, presented to the School Committee Tuesday, does reflect 133 layoffs, including 99 teachers and 11 administrators, and will result in the closure of the Ford School Annex.The committee is reviewing the spending plan this week and will meet in a special session May 7 to discuss and potentially set up a public hearing for the budget.