SAUGUS – When the School Committee met Thursday night, Chair Vincent Serino kicked things off by mentioning the current busing situation in town.
“I just wanted to talk about the busing. Listen, we’re still working things out with busing,” Serino said. “There’s mandatory riders, and the mandatory riders are given to us by the state.”
He also said the 2-mile rule is a state-mandated rule.
“When you say ‘I live a mile and a half away,’ that’s good, but the state mandate is 2 miles,” he said.
Serino noted that he and the other members of the School Committee had to bring their kids to school, too, and found ways to do it.
“It costs more money for buses. We had to make a decision: teachers or buses. We decided on teachers,” Serino said. “Listen, I read something about a petition out there. That’s great. You can get a million signatures; it doesn’t change anything. We have a problem. It’s a bus problem… Bring me a solution. Bring me something that fixes it.”
He continued that the committee was looking for a way to fix it, but signatures weren’t going to change anything.
Later in the meeting, the busing situation was on the agenda, stating it would be a “review of bus transportation and discussion of opening up ridership to non-mandated riders, based on seat availability, for a fee.”
Vice Chair Thomas Whittredge was the first to comment, saying he’d like to see some numbers.
“We cut busing in half, and then we offer no recourse for parents,” he said. Whittredge also noted that Executive Director of Finance & Administration Pola Andrews was not at the meeting, asking, “Why?”
Superintendent Michael Hashem said he could speak on a lot of the information and numbers.
“I met with staff. As far as the mandatory riders right now, we’re within two or three seats of capacity with students registering on a daily basis,” he said. “We’re talking about the students that have said they wanted a pass (and) gotten a bus pass.”
Hashem said he has asked the principals to give him a list of who is actually riding versus who is not riding in the a.m. and p.m. “That information should be forthcoming,” he said.
If the school were to get an additional bus for non-mandated riders, the bus would cost $104,450.
“What happens when we charge 20 families and we get three that pay?” Committee member Stephanie Mastrocola asked.
Hashem said they needed 50 riders at $2,000 a piece to get another bus.
“So it’s $11 a day. 180 days, $11 a day. So that’s $550 a ride. Put it to the parents. See if they want to do it,” Whittredge said.
Serino once again noted that the Committee does not decide who the mandated riders are. “The state says it’s 2 miles,” he said.
Whittredge interjected, saying, “Until sixth grade, right?” He continued that none of the Committee agreed with this rule, saying that if a student is getting on a bus and a seventh grade sibling can’t get on with them, “we all think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Serino stated that it’s a problem and they’d love to hear a solution.
