Coach buses for the Saugus High School Class of 2024 to travel to its senior prom on May 30 are still not secured, School Committee Chair Vincent Serino said at a recent meeting.
At an earlier meeting of the committee, Class President Jessica Bremberg and Vice President Madilyn Femino had reported that the class had been budgeting for the past year for coach buses to take the class to its prom at Black Swan Country Club in Georgetown.
While the class had expected a cost of around $4,000, which the previous class had paid for, the class learned at the last minute that the bus company the Class of 2023 had used would not be approved by the town’s insurance company due to a new requirement that the company offers sexual assault and molestation insurance.
Bremberg reported that it is rare to find companies that offer it, and that those that do are around twice as expensive as the class’s budget. At that meeting, Bremberg mentioned that bus companies were beginning to become booked for that time of year, and Serino said that the committee would figure out the difference in expenses between the estimated and actual cost.
At the committee’s meeting Thursday, resident Kerry Hogan asked the committee whether the situation has been resolved.
Serino said that the class was still having trouble securing four coach buses.
“It’s not because of the insurance or anything, it’s just because there’s not a lot of bus companies out there that have four coach buses,” Serino said.
He added that this might require the hiring of two separate companies, which could each provide two buses.
Serino said that by the committee’s next meeting, the situation should be resolved.
Hogan also asked if the insurance requirement that was at the root of the problem also applies to the district’s school buses.
“They have it daily going back and forth,” Committee member Stephanie Mastrocola said. “That was my very first question looking into it.”
