School Committee discontinues late bus service
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - Citing safety concerns for the school district's youngest children while questioning its eff ectiveness and fiscal feasibility, the School Committee approved at its March 19 meeting to discontinue late bus service to children in kindergarten through third grade, beginning in the 2008-2009 academic year.

"It's really a safety issue," Westborough Superintendent of Schools Anne Towle said. "The little guys aren't getting home until it's dark out and, depending on the number of children using the service on any given day, some kids are trucked all over town before they're dropped off at their home. They can be on that bus for as long as 30 minutes.

"In addition, because there's not a set schedule and a set route, parents have no idea when to expect their children will be getting off that bus, so they don't know when to be out there to meet it," Towle continued. "There's a budget savings here, of maybe about $5,000, but this is really a student safety issue."

Towle said at the K-3 level the late buses are used to transport children from twice-a-week after-school enrichment classes, which are held at the elementary schools.

The number of buses varies depending on use on any given day, Towle explained, but she said an average of seven to 10 students ride on each bus each day.

"To be honest, I've never seen more than seven students on one of the late buses," Towle said. "A large number of the children in the enrichment programs are picked up afterward by their parents."

Towle did say, however, that enrollment in the enrichment program classes could decrease slightly for next year as a result of discontinuing the late bus service. She noted that the enrichment program is a revenueproducing component of the Westborough school system.

Dan Hendricks, the school district's director of business and administration, broke down the cost of the K-3 late bus service.

"Each late bus costs between $50 and $75 per trip," Hendricks said. "Cutting out the service would save the district between $3,000 and $5,000 for the entire academic year."

The decision to drop the late bus service for K-3 students, coupled with the anticipated rising costs of bus service for the next academic year, prompted School Committee Chair Rod Jané to bring to the table the possibility of discontinuing late bus service for all grades or charging a fee for students to use it at the High School level.

"We already provide busing to and from school for all of our students," Jané said. "I think if students stay after school for extracurricular activities, they're on their own as far as making arrangements to get home afterward."

Katherine McManus, Westborough High's student representative to the School Committee, said that while she didn't know the number of students who ride the late bus off ered at the High School, she thought it was greater than the figures provided for late bus use at the K-3 level.

"You'd be surprised at the number of kids who stay after school every day, "Mc- Manus said. "And it's not just for athletics, although that is the largest group. But, in addition to kids staying after to participate in sports, there are kids who stay after for play rehearsal and band, to work on projects, and to get extra help with the studies and their homework."