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THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021 Page 3 Schools look at busing options for new school year By Adam Swift W ith the first day of school just around the corner, administrators are considering a plan of action for a potential problem with bus transportation for the coming year. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dianne Kelly said offi cials are still crunching numbers to determine if more busses will need to be used by the schools this year, or if the district will offer transportation to fewer students at the middle and high school levels to avoid an increase in busses and cost. “Really, what it has to do with is the change in the schedule,” said Kelly. “Because we no longer have ELT [expanded learning time] schools, all of our elementary schools are getting out at the same time, and all our middle schools are getting out at the same time, as is our high school and Seacoast.” With the ELT schedule for some schools, Kelly said, it was possible for some busses and bus drivers to complete a route for high school students and then come back and do a route for students at the Garfi eld Middle School. Kelly said that option is no longer available. In addition, Kelly said the schools have been notifi ed by Healey, the district’s transportation partner, that they are having a hard time hiring additional drivers. “We have been studying what our bus demands would be for this school year, and where we might land with that,” said Kelly. The superintendent said the district surveyed the parents and caregivers of students who live more than a mile from their school to see what their needs are for transportation. Typically, at the secondary school level, the district has provided transportation for any student who requests it, Kelly said. Kelly said that if the School need to think about what’s viable,” said Kelly. “These two options … are a lot more viable than the one that says we’ll bus everyone for want of nine busses and nine drivers.” During last Tuesday night’s School Committee meeting, Kelly said administrators were still crunching the numbers and going over the fi nal results of the recent survey before making a final recommendation. Initial results from the surDR. DIANNE KELLY Superintendent of Schools Committee decides it wants to bus every student who lives a mile or more from school and every potential student took advantage of it, the district would need to hire nine additional bus drivers at a cost of just under $800,000. “If we go to the state limit and say that we want to transport students who live more than two miles from their schools, and this is just for the middle and high schools, we would be able to make that work with the 20 busses that we already have contracted with Healey,” said Kelly. Kelly said there are also some intermediate plans the School Committee could consider. If the district bused all middle and high school students who lived 1.5 miles or more from their schools, the district would need two additional busses at a cost of about $175,000. An option to keep the one-mile limit for middle school students to one mile and extend it to two miles for high school students would also require two additional busses. “We bring up all of these options because we think that even if we decide that we can do something and aff ord to extend our bus services, we really ConCom hears Revere Beach Boulevard apartment building proposal By Adam Swift T he Conservation Commission wants to conduct a site visit before approving a 360-unit, seven-story apartment building at 548-580 Revere Beach Blvd. The building, which is being proposed for the three-acre site by developer Mill Creek Residential, is allowed by right according to the city’s zoning ordinance, making last week’s Conservation Commission meeting the only local public hearing on the project. While the Conservation Commission is only concerned with the orders of conditions BUILDING | SEE Page 9 vey showed that there was a heavier demand from middle school students for transportation, but not a lot of demand at the high school level. “That puts us in a little better position in terms of having enough busses to serve all the middle schools and make sure everyone is transported,” Kelly said. The superintendent said the district could handle the costs of adding two additional busses. If nine additional busses were needed, Kelly said, the district would have to dip into reserve funds or use federal COVID relief funds that were not planned for transportation costs. With the start of school coming up quickly, Kelly said on A.B.C. CIGAR 170 REVERE ST., REVERE (781) 289-4959 Same Location * Same Service for over 49 Years! 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