Town Meeting brought some good news for the School Committee as the town is committed to fund full busing for students, and a capital article that will allow the district to hire back some of the teachers and aides cut was approved by voters.

The topic of school busing has been a hot issue around town.  The School Committee made a decision during their budget process that they would preserve staff at the expense of full busing.  By law, the school district is only required to provide buses for students in grades kindergarten through six who live two miles or more away from school.

Further controversy erupted when the Board of Selectmen stepped in with a plan to help fund the full bus schedule.  School Committee members felt the decision had been taken out of their hands.  Eventually, the School Committee did vote to accept the town’s offer.

The town came up with a way to fund busing for grades K-12. They removed $465,000 from the school budget and combined it with $150,000 from Free Cash for Article 6.  This article was earmarked for the sole purpose of transportation.

Many parents argued that they would rather the extra money the town came up with go towards teachers. It’s no secret that people moving into town look into the school systems, George McCabe said at a previous meeting.

Roxanne Fahey had asked if anyone could amend this article, and she was told by School Committee member Michael Powers that any registered voter could make a motion to amend an article.

At that meeting George McCabe made it known that the School Committee is working hard to communicate with the town and this would only cause chaos and a split in parents who were for buses and those who were for teachers.

At Town Meeting, Cheri Wicks made a motion to amend Article 6, which stated it was for the sole purpose of providing students transportation. She wanted the $150,000 to go towards educational services.

“The motion in my opinion is not appropriate based on the four corners of the article,” said Town Counsel Kevin Feely.

“The article as amended is not appropriate,” said Town Moderator Robert Looney.  The amendment was not voted on, as it was out of order.

Hayes had explained that any additional money needed would be supplemented by bus fees, but the exact amount hasn’t been determined.

“In the fall when and if we need more money there is a proposal for an additional $150,000,” explained Hayes.

The original article was then returned to and passed.

The school received some additional help from the Capital Stabilization Fund.  $61,000 will be used for the tile floor replacement and sprinkler upgrades at the Central School, and $141,000 for boiler upgrades, replacement water heaters and exterior masonry repairs at the Middle School.

The Capital Stabilization Fund also will contribute $178,000 for school district technology upgrades and computer upgrades for the school system. Since this article was passed it will allow money in the school budget for technology to be used to retain some of the seven teachers and 12 aides that will be cut.

The School Committee has not decided what teaching positions will be cut.

When the school budget was presented, senior James Adams stood up to represent all music students, who were unable to attend the Town Meeting because they weren’t of voting age.

Adams is a music student at East Bridgewater High School, and he plays four instruments which he learned to play from the music programs offered in the school system. He talked about how the Middle School is at threat of losing their music program entirely if a teacher is cut.

“Without more funding it will be put to an end,” said Adams.

Hayes explained that, “This trend of chipping away on funding is hurting the students.”

“We vote bottom-line not line items,” said Looney, redirecting discussion to the matter on the floor.