Currently, Newton’s school transportation program does not accept alternate drop-off requests from families to out-of-school-time programs. With Sheprd gone, no transportation contractors in the city will accept individual requests for school transportation directly from families. Organizations are limited in the number of schools they reach with their own transportation options because the pickup window is short.
These phenomena are not unique to Newton. Many surrounding communities, some viewed to be more economically disadvantaged, have solved these challenges by altering their routes or building transportation costs to families or third-party childcare providers into their busing contracts. Boston, Brighton, Dorchester, Lowell, Medford, and Watertown provide busing to after-school programs directly or to the general areas where they reside. Why can’t Newton?
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Last busing contract cycle only one company submitted a bid so you can imagine how that limits NPS’s ability to negotiate a favorable deal. Next yr will be the 3rd yr in a 5yr contract. Even before that busing cost were rising. One of the major reasons holding up implementation of later start time for the High schools is that it would require additional buses and their associated costs. Right now buses drop kids a the high schools then go to routes related to other schools. I do believe some kids from Brown go to the Brigham House program so they take a bus that has a stop that drops off near the BH. I’m guessing that Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA are trying to serve additional kids who aren’t within the closest school’s district. I will tell you that the current bus routes my kids take are a mess. One now goes from the Highlands to a stop in Newton Centre then to a stop in Waban (near Lincoln Field) then stops at Christina & Goddard before reaching Brown whereas last year the bus went from our stop to a stop across Centre St then to Brown. Due to overcrowding our stop has been shifted around to multiple bus routes several times over the last few years. The HS route is almost as far flung so based on my two samples I think improvements could be made to achieve more efficient routes. I’m not sure how that works if the Boys and Girls Club and Y are trying to accommodate kids from multiple schools. Unless the existing routes are relatively close to the Y and B&G where routes can take a slight detour. Currently parents with kids grade 7 and older pay $350 for a bus pass with a family max of $700. The net cost to the school budget this year for regular education bus is $2.5M with the costs rising to $2.9M next year. Thus if this isn’t a goal achievable through efficiency of routes I’m not sure how the school system covers the additional costs. Passing along to the parents is not a feasible way in this situation.
This after school transportation problem is a mess with a fix long past due.
For working parents with younger kids, landing an after school slot is often essential but incredibly nerve-racking. Waiting lists are long and inconsistent from program to program. Fail to get a slot and you need to find a program with transportation or hire childcare. That’s expensive and brings more vehicles to school. There is no way to use the variety of after school programs available in Newton to balance needs and availability across,schools if transportation options don’t exist.
Of all the things government can do for us, saving us time and reducing our stress while giving us more options is pretty high up there in desireability. Providing a reasonable means of getting kids to approved after school programs (using school buses or other means) would completely change many family’s lives for the better. It would enable new learning and social opportunities for kids while allowing parents more flexibility to plan their work schedules. And it would take the burden of transportation off non-profits like the Y so they can offer programs to a wider range of kids.
Other communities make this happen. Newton should too. It is awesome for parents and reaps benefits for the entire city (except perhaps babysitters and nannies).
There are so many factors that feed into this issue:
After schools hosted in the elementary schools do not have the capacity for the needs of the students (and then the after school program has no competition, since parents don’t have the ability necessarily to transport kids out of the school to another location).
Non School based after schools (Boys and Girls Club, Rec Place in Lower Falls) must rely on bus routes
We need after school solutions that help working parents, and not just the ones that can afford nannies.
We also have wonderful programming through Newton Community Ed, however these programs don’t help working parents, as the programs are around town, and don’t last until 5 PM or 6 PM. It would be great if we could come up with a holistic way of looking at the K-8 after school programming and transportation.
I’m glad to see the Y and the B&GC discussing this issue. If it wasn’t for B&GC, I wouldn’t be able to work because it was the only way I could afford after school childcare. Babysitters charge more than I make! I’m in a position where I can drop my child off there, but a lot of people aren’t. Both the Y and the Club are extremely valuable and necessary to our community and more people should have access to them.
This op-ed raises really important points. There are some very vital programs at the YMCA and the Boys & Girls clubs especially to boost fitness and it is impossible to get children to them for a working parent. In Watertown where I work, I do see a very successful bus drop-off to the Boys and Girls Club and it makes sense that Newton should offer something similar. The bus issue is more than the elementary school after-care though. Try having a kid go to Newton South when you live in Auburndale and your kid wants to be on the swim team which only meets at Newton North at 5pm. There is no bus that runs from South to North, so instead the child takes the 3:40pm bus home, gets home at 4:15pm and some form of transportation is hired to bring them to North for practice. If there were a cross town bus for sports like swim, gymnastics that only meet at North, this would be great. Additionally there should be a later express bus to Auburndale and Waban, currently if you play a high school sport or are in a play, the rehearsal or practice gets out after the current late bus departs at 5:25pm and parents from across town must traipse six miles through Newton traffic creating both gridlock and environmental impact. People might say, carpool, but when you are from Auburndale people often decline the carpool, it is simply a hassle to get there from here sort of thing. Believe me, I have witnessed it. The busing and transportation problem exists from K all the way to high school.