Jun 23, 2009 11:04 pm US/Eastern
School District Threatens To Cut Bus Service
Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District May Make Cuts To Save Teachers
ASHBURNHAM (WBZ) ―
You know the big yellow school bus you grew up with? In one local school district, school officials say it may become a thing of the past. The Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School district is nearly $600,000 short in its budget. Officials say it's because voters rejected a request for an override, and the state is now planning major cuts to towns.
Already, the district has cut 17 positions. 10 more are on the chopping block, unless administrators find other places to trim. Some school committee members have thrown up their hands and threatened to cut school bus service all together at the middle and high schools, in order to save teachers.
The problem is, that would be illegal. State law prohibits regional districts from charging students who live more than a mile and a half from school. Committee members say their hands are tied.
"In essence, we have the mandate to provide the transportation service, but we don't have any protection from when the state is unable to meet its obligation," says school committee member Ellen Holmes.
She says it's an issue regional schools all over the state are struggling with.
Meantime parents are struggling with what they might face in September.
"It's almost impossible for her to walk to school," says Dwayne Bastarache about his daughter, Haley. "We would have to sacrifice getting to work in the morning. We'd have to figure out a carpool. It would mess things up."
Holmes says she doesn't think committee members will actually go through with the vote to eliminate bus service and violate the law. Instead, she says they will likely reduce the number of stops, forcing students to walk a lot further to get to their stops.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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