The previous week, 150 students’ parents in Stoughton Public Schools, a school district near Boston, received notification that due to insufficient funding and a deficit of buses and drivers, there would be no school bus service for their children.
This announcement coincided with reports from the Boston Herald that the state had begun covering transportation costs for over 200 migrant families’ students.
A letter sent to parents from Superintendent of Schools Joseph Baeta read, “Finalizing the bus routes and the list of students riding the bus is one of the signs the start of the school year is near.”
“Unfortunately, for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, 150 secondary students who signed up to ride a bus were not able to be placed on a bus. Those families not receiving bus transportation were notified this week. Those receiving bus transportation will receive their bus postcards the week of August 19.”
“We understand the feelings of disappointment and frustration this caused for the families who did not receive bus transportation. We feel it is important to explain this situation to all of our families to allow you to better understand how we arrived at this point.”
The letter mentioned a rise in bus transportation requests, but due to budget constraints, the district had one less bus compared to the previous year.
Fox News highlighted that Massachusetts does not mandate transportation for students in grades 7-12, but the district must provide busing for students residing in hotels and shelters.
Baeta says, however, the influx of migrants is not the reason for the shortage.
“We are utilizing funding the state provides to the district to bus the students living in hotels/shelters.”
“The funding for these two buses does not come from our operational budget. It is inaccurate to suggest that these children receiving busing is the reason yours did not. If we were not receiving the funding from the state for the students living in hotels/shelters, we would not be able to have these two additional buses.”
Nonetheless, the additional funding seems to be sourced from the state of Massachusetts, which has determined the priority of students.
Although Baeta made recent remarks, he did acknowledge in a letter to parents in March that an increase in migrants has added to “financial pressures.”
Baeta wrote, “The district is seeing an increase in PreK-12 enrollment, including in our migrant student population, and unprecedented pressures in special education, transportation, and services for English Learners.”
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