School Committee Grapples with Transportation Budget Shortfall

District explores options to address $200,000 deficit while launching feasibility study for middle-high school

COHASSET, MA - October 2 - The Cohasset School Committee is facing a significant transportation budget deficit, with expenses exceeding the budget by over $200,000. At its Oct. 2 meeting, the committee discussed potential solutions to address the shortfall, including fee increases and restructuring bus routes.

Susan Owen, Director of Finance and Operations, presented a detailed report on the district's transportation challenges. The current budget allocates $342,000 for regular transportation, but actual expenses are projected to reach $526,000 this year.

"We're going to have to ask for more. There's no way around it," Owen said. "Times have changed, things have increased and we're not seeing the increases that we need to cover just what our basic transportation needs are."

The district currently operates eight bus routes with nine buses, including one electric bus. Owen explained that the additional bus is necessary to accommodate sports transportation, which often conflicts with regular after-school routes.

Committee members expressed concern about the budget gap and discussed potential solutions. Lance Dial suggested exploring the purchase of two 15-passenger vans for athletic transportation, which could potentially save money compared to contracting outside services.

"If we can show that having vans eliminates $8,000 bills, then that right there pays for that," Dial said.

Superintendent Sarah Shannon emphasized the need for families to register for bus service on time, as late registrations complicate route planning and budgeting.

"We budget and we build routes for the number of students who register for the bus and when 80 registrations come in the week before school starts that changes everything," Shannon said.

The committee also discussed the possibility of implementing higher fees for late bus registrations to encourage timely sign-ups.

In addition to transportation concerns, the meeting covered updates on the district's feasibility study for the middle-high school facility. Shannon reported that the district has conducted site visits to other schools and held community forums to gather input.

"We're bringing a lot of people together," Shannon said. "It's gonna be administrators, it's teachers, it's students, it's families, it's folks from different committees and organizations in town."

The district is set to begin a three-part visioning workshop on Oct. 9 to help create the educational vision that will guide potential facility improvements or replacements.

Shannon emphasized that the feasibility study is exploring all options, including renovation of the existing facility and construction of a new building. No decisions have been made at this point.

"The feasibility study has to look at all options,"Shannon said. "Nothing has been decided at this point. We want the feasibility study to look at all options."

Committee members stressed the importance of engaging families with younger children in the planning process, as they will be the primary beneficiaries of any new or renovated facility.

The committee also approved a $10,000 gift from the PSO as part of a $50,000 multi-year donation for library refurbishment.

As the meeting concluded, Committee Chair Craig MacClellan expressed concern about the overall financial challenges facing the district.

"This is extremely concerning because this isn't the only area that we're experiencing shortfalls in," MacClellan said. "We don't have enough for out-of-district tuitions. We don't have enough for transportation. We don't have enough to expand some of the athletic programming and facilities and improve those."

MacClellan suggested exploring fundraising options to help address some of the district's needs and announced plans to schedule a joint meeting with the select board to discuss funding challenges.

The next school committee meeting is scheduled for Oct. 16.