After what Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was a rocky start to the school year, BPS is looking to save both time and money by rolling out a new school bus plan for its 22,000 students, but one local group is pushing back on its legality.
It takes a lot of buses and a ton of logistics to move 22,000 students around, but that is just another day for Boston Public Schools.
On Thursday, a steady stream of buses leaving the bus yard in Hyde Park headed all around the city to pick up students at school and take them home. A transportation system this massive is bound to come with inefficiencies, something BPS is working to change.
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WATCH HERE"For the first time in BPS, ripping open the systems piece, and taking on hard topics," said BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper. "This is really the first time, under our mayor, that we are taking this on, kind of opening up the can and really looking at it."
Looking to modernize things, BPS rolled out an app that lets parents track buses in real time called Zum at the start of the school year. The app also gave BPS a lot of new data.
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"As we saw, we had a rocky start to the school year, but now it is putting us in a place to do even better than could have been imagined before, with more reliability," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said.
Now, BPS is taking the next step, rolling out a policy it says will save students time, and the school district millions of dollars a year, while cutting out hundreds of needless stops.
If a student, including a special needs student, does not ride the bus for 10 straight school days, that bus stop will be paused.
"We will make sure we are only running routes for students who consistently use the bus so we are using our resources efficiently and equitably, that will get us closer to where we need to be," said Daniel Rosengard, executive director of transportation for BPS.
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Diana Santiago, the legal director for Massachusetts Advocates for Children, says the agency was surprised by Wednesday's BPS announcement.
"As education advocates, including for many students with disabilities, we are seriously concerned about the course BPS has decided to take, and are concerned it may not be legal," Santiago said.
"A service that a student has in their individualized education program or IEP, such as transportation, that they have because of their disability can't be removed," she added. "There is really no legal basis for BPS halting a service, including transportation, that is in a student's IEP without parent consent."
Santiago says Massachusetts Advocates for Children is studying its next move, and is not ruling out legal action.
BPS says families can always call them to opt back in, even after the 10 days have passed. BPS says all of this will go into effect next month, though the plan is still being evaluated.
