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From Fox News: Parents and students of a school district outside of Boston were informed last week that they would be without school bus service, citing a lack of funding and a shortage of buses.
The 150 students at Stoughton Public Schools will have to find a new way to get to school ahead of the academic year’s September 4 start date, the Boston Herald first reported. The news comes at the same time that the state has started paying for buses for the migrant students of the more than 200 migrant families that recently moved into their community.
“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,” a letter sent to parents from Superintendent of Schools Joseph Baeta read. “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,” the letter added. “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 School said they had 162 more requests for bus services this year than the prior year, and they have one less bus available than they had last year.
But here’s the real kicker… The letter to parents states: “The district has two buses for students living in hotels/shelters. We are required to provide transportation for these students. These two buses are in addition to the 13 buses for the students not in hotels/shelters. 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.”
The superintendent had previously sent out a letter to parents in March, saying that the school is having to make some cuts in their budget due to the influx of migrant children, the loss of their pandemic money, and inflation. The letter states:
This year, Stoughton has seen an increase in enrollment, resulting in more students overall. This includes growing needs for students with disabilities and for English Learners. The budget for next year includes four new special education staff members to create a new substantially separate program, helping us to serve Stoughton students in our own schools. It also includes contractual increases in salaries for our teachers, our paraprofessionals and our STA Unit B administrators, helping us to attract and retain highly qualified staff to better support our students.
The district is also experiencing some financial pressures. ESSER funding, or federal relief aid provided during the pandemic, will expire after this school year. As you all know, inflation has caused all expenses to increase, and this has also impacted salaries. 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. Our main priorities have been retaining teaching staff and supporting the large influx of students we received this year, including providing the English Learner services they require. In order to accommodate this increase in our student population, we have had to make adjustments throughout the budget. The situation remains fluid as we get more information and advocate for additional funding from the state.
Over 100 students without bus service as Massachusetts funds buses for migrants https://t.co/V1ntjuIj17
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 24, 2024
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