The transportation task force will continue to meet.
EAST LONGMEADOW – The transportation task force and the School Committee have come to an agreement about busing fees.
While the fees will not be reduced for families of two children, there will be a cap of $540 placed on busing fees.
“Basically, families who have more than two school-aged children will not have to pay for more than two children to ride the bus,” said Laura B. Joubert, a parent and member of the Transportation Task Force.
The bus fee will remain at $270 per student, but for families with three or more children, there will be a reduction in cost.
“This cap will not help my family, but it might make it easier for larger families to put their kids on the bus,” she said. “This is just a first step. The task force will continue to meet during the next school year to see how we can further assist families.”
Joubert submitted a warrant article about the bus fees during the May 2010 annual Town Meeting. While the article did not pass, it did push the School Committee to start the task force.
“I was happily surprised that everyone came together and has been willing to look at this issue seriously,” she said.
School Committee and task force committee member Joseph Cabrera said he was disappointed with the resolution.
“After a year of working on this, I am disappointed that this is the only agreement we could come to. More needs to be done to reduce the fees,” he said.
The task force has been meeting regularly during the past school year to discuss the bus fees, as well as other transportation issues in town. A survey of the system revealed that most families were concerned with the high fee.
“We had a very good response to the survey,” said Superintendent of Schools Gordon C. Smith. “Most families are concerned about the fee, and many said they would be satisfied with a cap. We got a lot of useful comments about things we should be working on as well.”
Smith agreed with Joubert that this is just a first step.
“We will continue to look at ways to make it more convenient for parents to place their children on the bus if that is something they want to do,” he said.
The School Committee voted to approve the cap at its May 9 meeting. The committee approved the 2011-12 transportation services contract during its meeting Monday night.