School busing and new cellphone policy hot topics for new school year

By Barbara Taormina

REVERE – With the groundbreaking for the new high school in the spotlight, many residents were no doubt thinking ahead to September 2028, when the new school is expected to open, but for the past couple of months the School Committee has been focused on August 25, the first day of the 2025-26 school year. The committee has been reviewing school transportation, the cell phone policy, staff changes, and equity initiatives.

At their July meeting, the committee voted to approve a three-year lease for two large buses that can carry 77 students and two small buses that will be used to transport special needs students. Earlier this year, the committee voted to eliminate bus service for students who live within two miles of their school. Financial Director Matt Kruse explained that when possible the district would prefer to operate its own buses with in-house staff.

“If we had limitless staff and limitless places to store them, you would be voting on a lease for eight buses. But four is what we can do and house properly this year,” said Kruse.

But that news was little comfort to parents who came to the meeting to express their opposition to the new transportation system. Parents described how their 10- and 11-year-old children now have bus passes and their trips to school require two different bus rides and a 15-minute walk. Parents voiced concerns about increased absenteeism and student safety.

“The option is for bus passes. There are no other options,” said Luis Cruz, who went on to criticize the committee for not letting families know about the busing issue earlier. “You should have notified parents ahead of time that funding for busing would be cut so families could make informed decisions and plan,” he told the committee.  “If families knew ahead of time a lot of problems could have been avoided.”

Cruz pointed to the district’s $10 million cash reserves and suggested now is the time to use it.

“We really need to find the funding for transportation,” said Ralph DeCicco, chairman of the Disabilities Commission, who is running for an at-large seat on the School Committee. DeCicco said the three middle schools and the middle school lottery have caused a great need for bussing. DiCicco said the district needs to find money for buses even if they need to look under rocks.

Mayor Patrick Keefe, chairman of the School Committee, responded to parents, telling them it was not a decision the committee made easily. He said more money is being spent on transportation this year but it’s not going as far as it used to go. Keefe said there were financial challenges across the board and noted that 100 positions were eliminated from the school department this year. “There’s a lot of blame to go around but the reality is school transportation has become unsustainable,” said Keefe.

The other hot issue for the new school year is the updated cell phone policy. Restrictions on cell phone use will be the same as last year. The major difference is that students will be required to put phones away for the entire school day in a special homeroom locker.

Committee members were concerned that enforcement is still left up to teachers. School Superintendent Dianne Kelly said students refusing to put aside their phones would be considered insubordinate and disciplined according to the measures outlined in the student handbook.

And it’s not just Revere. The Massachusetts Senate recently passed a bill to ban cell phones in public schools with the hope of reducing distractions and improving student mental health. Implementation is expected by the 2026 school year.

“My concern is getting us adjusted to the policy,” said Keefe, promising teachers and administrators they would get whatever resources and support they needed to make the new policy work.

“We are prepared. We know it’s coming and there will be no shock if there are some issues that arise. There will be a small vocal minority that oppose this, but the majority, even those at the state level, support it, added Keefe.

Superintendent Kelly provided an extensive list of new hires, resignations and transfers to the committee. Committee member Fred Sannella asked about the new Deputy Principal at Revere High, Shelagh St. Laurent.

“Next year doesn’t look so rosy,” said Sanella. “We have a new deputy principal, four assistant principals and an Ombudsman at the high school. Couldn’t someone have moved up instead of hiring from outside?” asked Sannella.

But Kelly said the position had already been planned and budgeted. Kelly added that staff at the high school had been expanded to ensure students feel safe in the building. She said the high school added a school resource officer, the deputy principal, guidance counselor and student engagement counselors. Kelly said she is aware that the committee wanted her to look more closely at the administrative team to see if there could be changes and savings.

“I have heard the committee,” said Kelly, who added that she was reluctant to start taking apart the new high school team at this point.

The district’s Equity Advisory Board (EAB), led by Dr. Lourenço Garcia, updated the committee on its work to promote equity, inclusion and diversity to develop and sustain policies that are inclusive to the school community. Welcome clubs, created by Revere High students and guidance counselors, have students connect with newcomers, offering them tours, introductions to teachers and other tips on how to navigate a new school. The board has also been working on a toolkit for educators to engage parents. A language access plan has been developed to better communicate with the 70 percent of school families who speak languages other than English.