At Saturday’s Town Meeting, voters approved Article 10, which established a revolving fund for transportation.  This fund will receive money from a bus fee of $180 per student per year for those pupils in kindergarten through grade six who live within two miles of the school and all students in grades seven through 12.  This fee includes a cap of $360 per family.

Ken Fortini of the Finance Committee said Saturday that due to the late passage of the school budget in February, the town warrant was already closed with an amount of $150,000 designated as the limit for the fund.  However, the school department is expecting the transportation fee to produce approximately $262,000.

Therefore, they will have to come back before voters at a Special Town Meeting expected later this spring to ask voters to increase this limit.

Fortini added that since the state had eliminated close to $210,000 in transportation, the school department felt a fee was needed and the finance committee supported this article.

Business Manager Mickey McGonagle spoke briefly on the article, including clarifying a question from the public that this fund is strictly for the use of school transportation fees.