SAUGUS — The School Committee Transportation Subcommittee met on Wednesday to discuss the possible transportation options the school has as it looks into the busing issue.
The school does not make the decision on the rules it follows when it comes to the buses. It is a state law that says that mandatory riders are those in grades K through six who live 2 miles away from the school.
Although the 2-mile rule isn’t a decision within their control, the Committee hopes to find better solutions for non-mandatory riders.
Superintendent Michael Hashem noted that the buses were “really close to capacity” as of right now.
Vincent Serino, who is also the chair of the School Committee, asked if letters had been sent to the mandatory riders to inquire if they were riding the bus. He said that sometimes he’ll drive by a bus, and it looks almost empty. Serino did say that he knows the bus could have already dropped off students.
Executive Director of Finance & Administration Pola Andrews said one bus has to cover two routes, which is one reason why it might appear empty as it has already completed one route.
Serino asked if that bus could be filled up again since it isn’t at capacity. Andrews and Hashem both said that wasn’t possible because the bus would then have to take a whole new route.
“And it’s one run in the afternoon,” Hashem said. This means the bus only takes those two routes in the morning, completing the drop-offs in one route after school, putting it at capacity.
“Because of the morning traffic, they wouldn’t make it to the complex in time if they had to pick everyone up at once,” Andrews said.
Hashem said that around 50 students can fit on a bus.
Andrews also noted that more students tend to ride in the morning than in the afternoon, which could have to do with sports or parents being home to get them.
Hashem also mentioned that he had a survey he was preparing to send out; however, he is waiting to put it before the whole School Committee to ensure everyone is comfortable with how it is worded and meets all the needs. The survey started with basic questions about who the students are and which school they attend. The latter questions focus more on finding a possible solution.
Another possibility that the Committee looked at was using the MBTA, which is addressed in the survey.
Hashem said that if a student uses the MBTA, they are able to give the student a Student CharlieCard (s-card), and the family can add funds to it.
“They would get the student rate because we’d be able to validate that they were a Saugus Public School student,” he said.
The issue with the MBTA is that the school does not have any control over the routes the buses take. Andrews had looked over the mapped out routes of where the students live, and a study was done showing how the MBTA does not go all through town.
“Parents can already do this. They can put their students on the bus, but if they want us to get s-cards, which just verifies they’re a student, we can get s-cards and distribute them at the complex,” she said.
Saugus Public Schools would have no control over late buses, routes, and buses that do not show up, as this is a private entity completely separate from them.
Another solution they discussed was having a night where parents from each school can connect and possibly create car pools. The Committee thought about having a conversation with the PTOs to see if this could be done.
“I think this is really a good community coming together. I think this would be good… It’s just bringing the community together for a worthwhile purpose and trying to solve a problem,” Serino said. “Let’s see if we can get the community together and work with them and see if we can help alleviate some of this stress.”
The Transportation Subcommittee will give a report at Thursday night’s School Committee meeting on everything they talked about as Saugus Public Schools continues to search for solutions.
