LYNN — After the school department’s decision in March to temporarily suspend all transportation for public schools in the city, buses resumed transporting the more than 600 students on Individual Education Plans (IEP) Wednesday.
The bus company, North Reading Transportation (NRT), now transports students in a three-tier schedule created by the school department, which staggers pickup times between the schools.
NRT CEO John McCarthy said the first day back was a little bumpy, given that this is the first time a three-tier schedule has been implemented in Lynn.
Some parents reported late pickups, or no pickup at all, on Wednesday. In response, McCarthy encouraged any parents experiencing issues to call the NRT office so the company can make adjustments to the schedule and ensure a safe and reliable pickup for all students.
With a new route to learn and students — all of whom are on IEPs — readjusting to the buses, it will take drivers some time to figure out the easiest transition back into the commute to school, McCarthy said.
Superintendent of schools Dr. Patrick Tutwiler temporarily suspended transportation due to a statewide bus driver shortage and said that it would not be fair to offer only some students a ride when over 600 students require one through their IEPs.
Representatives from NRT said the reason the company did not have enough drivers to sustain the city’s needs was partly due to the fact that the city stopped paying them when the town’s schools went remote.
McCarthy said as of Thursday morning the city has yet to pay its remaining balance — a price tag of more than $1 million.
According to NRT’s attorney, Alycia Kennedy, the company has provided services to the Lynn Public Schools throughout the pandemic, and the contract states the city needs to pay for those services. An NRT representative listed some of the services as fixed costs which include vehicle equipment, maintenance, excise tax and insurance, and rent and utilities.
“About 95 percent of our drivers are Lynn residents,” McCarthy said. “When the city made a decision to stop paying us, they made a decision to not pay their constituents.”
With about five weeks left in the school year, McCarthy said NRT will continue its contract with Lynn because he believes the city will pay them for future use. If the city doesn’t pay its remaining balance, McCarthy said the company will work with its attorneys to reevaluate summer transportation.
“We put the lawsuits and anger aside to transport the kids again on Wednesday,” McCarthy said. “We do this for the kids and we want to ensure they have safe, reliable transportation.”
Attorneys from NRT have reportedly tried to reach out to the city’s attorneys multiple times, but McCarthy said they have not received any response.
According to Assistant City Solicitor James Wellock, “the bus company has most definitely heard from the city.”
Wellock said the bus company has filed suit and the city filed its answer and counterclaims disputing the invoices.
“As the city stated in that document, it is illegal for the city to make a payment for a service not actually performed,” Wellock said. “Right now, the city is waiting to hear from the bus company, because the next step is for the bus company to file its response to the city’s counterclaims, and their deadline for filing their response in court is May 28.”
This transportation issue was also brought to the attention of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) when a parent — who requested to remain anonymous — sent a written statement of concern to DESE on March 26.
DESE investigated the complaint and later determined noncompliance, providing Lynn Public Schools with required corrective action in a letter sent on May 3.
In that letter, DESE found the district had neither provided a “free and appropriate public education” to students requiring transportation, nor did they adhere to the mandated dates for return to full-time, in-person learning for elementary-school students, as some who could not find other means of transportation remained remote.
DESE stated that the district did not fully comply with the requirements that coincide with students with IEPs.
The letter also stated that a corrective action report must be submitted by the district by July 1, which includes a statement of assurance of steps taken, or to be taken, to remedy the noncompliance issues, along with any plan of compensatory services offered.
The school department could not be reached for comment.
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected]
