School Committee cuts high school and middle school transportation program to close $1.3M budget shortfall

Students residing under 2 miles to receive MBTA passes

Advocate Staff Report

The Revere School Committee voted unanimously to approve a plan to close a $1.3 million shortfall in the school transportation budget. Committee members agreed to eliminate the high school transportation program and transportation for middle school students who live less than two miles from their school. Students affected by those changes will receive a CharlieCard (an MBTA pass) from the district.

“Nobody wants to reduce service, but times have changed,” said Mayor Patrick Keefe, who is chair of the School Committee. “We have a rich history of what we’ve been able to do but times are different now.”

The committee discussed several options, such as using next year’s circuit breaker money, and state funding meant to offset the cost of transporting special needs students to out-of- district placements, to cover the budget gap. But the committee is being conservative and cautious about spending in anticipation of heavy costs anticipated by the new high school and the early education center at McKinley School, and transportation costs are expected to continue to increase.

Still, committee member John Kingston felt the district should leave the transportation program as it is. “We’re rushing a process,” said Kingston, who felt that making major changes this late in the school year is too much. Kingston felt that the better choice is to wait until next year and hold parent meetings to discuss all the options, including eliminating the middle school lottery and moving to neighborhood middle schools.

“If these two changes are made, we can look at the lottery and think through what impact neighborhood middle schools would have on school culture,” said Schools Supt. Dianne Kelly.

However, Kelly also warned that some data suggests that when transportation becomes more difficult, attendance, especially with adolescents, decreases. “That would be something we would want to watch,” said Kelly.

Other committee members said that students have asked for CharlieCards, and the passes will benefit students who work in Boston after school or students who want to visit friends and still have a ride home. The cost of CharlieCards is $30 a month, $300 a year per student, which is significantly less than the buses needed to transport those students.

Kingston stressed to any families listening to the meeting, “We have done nothing with elementary transportation. Elementary is untouched.”