Busing costs double to over $15M for Massachusetts school district

A public school district in Massachusetts is grappling with soaring transportation expenses for its 11,000 students, a recent news report concluded.

“I am horrified at the burgeoning cost of transportation,” said Thomas Khoury, committee member for Fall River Public Schools, at an April 8 meeting.

The Herald News, which is part of the Gannett USA TODAY network, traced the exponential hike in busing expenses from $8 million in 2021 to its present-day projections of more than $15.8 million. 

“Each year, the school board has been short of its budget goals, and each year, the city has stepped in to provide the difference,” Emily Scherny wrote. 

Inefficiencies driving high costs 

School COO Kenneth Pacheco explained some factors contributing to the rapid increase – including a plethora of busing vendors and door-to-door routes. 

“(Driving door to door) is not the most economical option, and often includes serpentine turns,” Scherny wrote. “Drivers, if they made more stops to fill the empty seats, ‘run out of time’ before school starts.” 

More routes have accumulated over the years, while buses cannot navigate some roadways because of ongoing construction. 

In addition, “mega-schools” have grown up in neighborhoods that used to have walkable distances between buildings – lengthening bus times and itineraries, Pacheco said. 

“School bus routes need to be remapped, curtailing the length of routes and ride time for students.” Scherny wrote. “The addition of preschoolers now taking the bus have increased, and 10 new buses with built-in car seats to accommodate younger students who need them, and electric buses awaiting an inspection by the Department of Motor Vehicles will be placed on the road.” 

But electric school buses bring other challenges. 

As previously reported by The Lion, maintenance and safety concerns have led journalists and school officials to urge more research on these vehicles before implementation. 

“Electric is just going to be an economic disaster for the entire country,” said Nick de Haan, a school bus mechanic in Colorado. He has inspected, repaired and maintained school buses since 2005. 

De Haan cited problems with batteries, strains on the electrical grid, and fire hazards as some issues needing resolution to make such vehicles “financially feasible.” 

“Manufacturers nowadays might claim that they do research and development, but I can almost guarantee you the consumer is pretty much the guinea pig when it comes to new technology,” he said. “They don’t have the time, money or resources to do R&D for any length of time.”