LYNN — The Lynn Public Schools (LPS) announced last week, via a letter to teachers, it would be temporarily suspending transportation to all students in the school district.
The decision most immediately impacts the 680 students who receive transportation through their Individualized Education Programs (IEP), as those special education students are scheduled to return to full-time, in-person learning on April 5.
LPS has a contract with North Reading Transportation (NRT), which usually provides the school district with about 40 bus drivers.
A few days before the district was scheduled to transition to its hybrid model, which includes in-person learning, NRT informed LPS it would not be able to transport all of the students who have opted to return to in-person learning due to a lack of bus drivers.
Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler said that the issue is not unique to Lynn, noting that there is a shortage of bus drivers across the state.
“We weren’t able to satisfy the needs of all of the students,” said Tutwiler. “At that point, the issue was drivers. There were not enough. NRT has given our district only 18 drivers who are supposed to be providing transportation for 680 students.”
Administrator of Special Education Phylitia Jamerson said about 40 percent of the students who have opted to return to in-person learning and wanted to have transportation would not have been provided with that transportation.
Given the limited availability of buses, she said it was unfair for some students to receive transportation while others did not, so school administration has opted to temporarily stop transportation for all students until it can be provided for the entire student body.
Making the decision to halt transportation was extremely hard, Tutwiler said, but he noted the district had reached an inequitable situation where administrators had no choice. Given the size and the number of students requiring medical accessibility on buses, he said it was hard to find companies capable of serving the needs of the Lynn school district.
The administration has done everything it can to find other ways to transport the students, Tutwiler said, adding that “no stone has been left unturned.”
LPS posted flyers on its website and Facebook page to try to help NRT recruit drivers, but Jamerson said that effort was deemed unsuccessful. She mentioned attaining the license needed to drive the buses is a lengthy process in itself, one that can take weeks to complete.
“There’s a special license for transporting students with disabilities,” she said. “You have to have another special license to operate a bigger vehicle with multiple passengers, and you have to get coried, fingerprinted and drug tested.”
A parent of a student affected by the transportation change, who requested to remain anonymous, said the way it was implemented was deplorable and unrealistic, citing the lack of notice given to parents of children with special needs.
“You can’t teach an autistic child remotely,” she said, noting her child’s IEP states that her child legally needs to receive transportation.
A special education teacher, who also requested to remain anonymous, said the teachers received the letter from district administration on Friday and were instructed to inform the parents, which she said was devastating.
“The parents are screaming. Some are in tears,” said the teacher. “It’s all the special education kids who can’t do remote learning.”
She highlighted how the decision mostly impacts the students in special education programming because they are the students who need to travel to the schools that offer the special education programs, while general education students attend their respective neighborhood schools, which are usually within walking distance.
Jamerson said parents who are able to drive their students to school are eligible for a mileage reimbursement at 57 cents per mile. To arrange reimbursements, parents can contact Anny Feliz at [email protected] or 781-953-3090.
Tutwiler said the decision was not based on a lack of funding. He said there is plenty of funding for transportation and the money the district has been able to save over the past year from being remote and not having to transport students went directly back to the city coffers.
Students who are unable to be driven to school can continue with their remote learning plans.
“We understand this may not be your first choice, but please know that we are working closely with our transportation company to resolve these issues as quickly as possible and get all students back into our school buildings full time,” Jamerson said.
“We strongly believe that in-person is the best option for our high needs students with disabilities,” she said. “We are working on a plan that will allow us to transport our students.”
Jamerson said district administration is expecting to get transportation back as soon as possible, and is confident in its plan, which will be presented to the Lynn Teachers Union and then to the School Committee Thursday for approval.
“This is not a situation we’re hiding,” said Tutwiler, who encouraged parents and teachers to express their discontent while the plan is pending approval.