Regional schools seek bus relief

May 25—ROWLEY — A pair of local school officials are finding themselves cautiously optimistic as they track a bipartisan effort in the state Senate to get the commonwealth to fully fund its regional school transportation reimbursements.

State Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, authored an amendment last week to add $14.5 million to the state Senate's proposed $49.68 billion state operating budget for Fiscal Year 2023.

State Sens. Diana DiZoglio, D-Methuen, Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, and Ann Gobi, D-Spencer, have co-sponsored Tarr's amendment, which could take the Senate's proposed $82.1 million Chapter 71 school transportation line item up to $96.6 million in Fiscal Year 2023, which begins July 1.

Sen. Gobi has also filed a similar amendment of her own.

State law requires that the commonwealth reimburse regional school districts their transportation costs to the full extent, subject to appropriation.

Pentucket and Triton regional school districts are adversely financially impacted by bus transportation costs.

According to a press release from Tarr's office, the state's school transportation reimbursement rates have been averaging between 70% and 85% over the past 20 years, placing an unfair strain on regional school districts which are required to bus students in every grade, and often over long distances, in the process.

Chapter 71 regional school transportation funding is appropriated through a budget line item in the state's annual operating budget and both Tarr's and Gobi's amendments would bump the reimbursement rate up to 100%.

Tarr's amendment is backed by groups such as the Massachusetts Municipal Association and Support MA Regional Schools, which is a grassroots group of roughly 1,500 parents, students, educators, and school and town officials dedicated to a 100% regional school transportation reimbursement rate.

Triton

Nerissa Wallen is a Rowley member of the Triton Regional School Committee and is also a co-founder of Support MA Regional Schools and she said she is "thrilled" about Tarr's amendment and is "even more thrilled" that there are now two amendments headed for the Senate floor.

"This is an exceptional thing and the visibility it brings is very exciting," she said.

Support MA Regional Schools has spent the past five years fighting for a fully funded state reimbursement rate and Wallen said the recent, bipartisan movement from state Legislators on the matter has given her some optimism.

"Our hopes and expectations have been on the same level as they have previously been, where we have been hoping for somewhat of an increase at least, but not necessarily looking at the 100%. So, to have those two 100% amendments coming in and to be getting these signals that it looks like it is going to be a topic of discussion is very encouraging," she said.

Pentucket

Pentucket Regional School District Superintendent Justin Bartholomew has spent the past two weeks cutting $1.34 million from his district's proposed $49.2 million operating budget for the upcoming 2022-23 school year, which will see the elimination of eight teaching positions.

He said a fully funded regional school transportation line item could potentially add two teachers to his payroll during the next budget session and could possibly make a difference for the next school year.

"We would end up with about $144,000 if this were to go through. That would have meant that we could have kept teachers. But they are gone. Even if we ended up getting it, we could post positions for teachers at the end of the summer, beginning of the fall. So then you have to ask yourself, who's left? It's not a good position for the kids to be in," he said.

Bartholomew went on to say that the state is expecting to see revenues exceed expectations once again this year, while it continues to fund regional transportation somewhere in the range of 85%.

The superintendent said that is an equation that does not compute for him or his fellow educators.

"The state has been telling these towns that 'this is your problem, not ours' for a very long time. That's called bailing on a promise," he said.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.