SAUGUS — Two weeks into the school year, Saugus Public Schools faces a bus and staffing shortage, meaning it cannot accommodate 158 students whose families have expressed a need for them to ride the bus, causing some to walk more than two miles to and from campus.
A staffing shortage across the entire district has also meant that about 30 Belmonte STEAM Academy families’ requests for after-school care for their children were denied. Impacted parents brought their concerns before the Saugus School Committee at its regular meeting Thursday.
Superintendent Erin McMahon said the district had four buses last year, and currently has five, but would need about eight to 11 to meet demand. She said there are currently none available for the district to purchase due to supply chain issues, and that she doesn’t anticipate the district getting another until at least the spring of 2023.
Saugus Public Schools is currently compliant with the Massachusetts law that mandates the state’s school districts provide transportation for all students in kindergarten through sixth grade who live more than two miles from the school. However, many students who fall short of meeting those criteria face long and difficult commutes.
Veterans Early Learning Center parent Karima Cherfi and her 5-year-old son Anis El Khaiati live 1.9 miles from the school. They are currently on a waitlist so that he can ride the bus to and from school rather than walking, which takes him about 40 minutes each way.
“My 5-year-old has to walk 40 minutes. He has asthma and I just moved July 27. I’m new in Saugus and I don’t know anyone,” Cherfi said. “I know (the mandate’s cutoff) is two miles, but it’s like a step away from two miles, and the bus is right next to my house.”
Saugus Middle High School parent Ben Westerfield and his 12-year-old son, who experiences epileptic symptoms, live 2.1 miles from the school. However, because his son is in seventh grade, he now misses the state mandate’s cutoff and must also walk about 40 minutes to and from school each day. Westerfield, who works in the Coast Guard, said he knows there are multiple students missing school because their parents must go to work early and the buses can’t take them.
“It really is an issue and I think we are going to have a lot more problems when winter comes,” Westerfield said. “What are kids going to do in the wintertime when it’s too rough to walk to school? We can network to carpool and things of that nature, but how long can that go on?”
Westerfield said he has reached out to multiple state representatives and senators about the bussing issue but that he has not received any substantive responses. McMahon said the district is “at the mercy of how many buses are available” and is looking to the community for solutions.
Saugus School Committee member John Hatch said it will convene a special committee to examine the issue town-wide and “try to solve the problem for everybody.” Chair Vincent Serino suggested the committee look into seeing if the MBTA could help.
“This is the hard part. You have a problem and unfortunately, we don’t have a solution,” Serino told parents Thursday. “We are trying to get more busing and trying to do the right thing, but I don’t know what to tell you. I’m sorry. I really am.”
At the Belmonte STEAM Academy, the 30 families who have expressed interest in after-school child care are also on a waitlist. The campus’ current after-school program Kids Come First serves about 84 students. However, it is understaffed and the district is having a hard time finding licensed and qualified people to fill vacant positions.
“Kids Come First is incredibly important to the Saugus community. It’s always been a trusted place for childcare where parents know their kids are safe after school,” McMahon said. “We will continue to repost positions and try to attract members of the community. The limiting factor of the model right now is that it requires a licensed teacher. …We may need to look to the community to staff a program with a different model.”
Rachel Barber can be reached at [email protected].
