State may have to pick up bussing costs

Date: 2/8/2012

Feb. 8, 2012

By G. Michael Dobbs

news@thereminder.com

CHICOPEE — The city of Chicopee and other local communities that house homeless families may be seeing some reimbursement from the state for the cost of bussing students from one city to another.

Mayor Michael Bissonnette told the School Committee during its pre-meeting conference the State Auditor’s office has determined the cost of bussing homeless students whose families have been relocated by the state to local schools is an unfunded mandate.

Bissonnette noted that Springfield, Holyoke and Chicopee have been at odds with one another about bussing costs. The state has said if a homeless student begins school in one district and the family is relocated to a neighboring community, the new community must provide bussing of the student to the school and can recoup costs from the other community.

Bissonnette said as of Jan. 27 Chicopee was is the home of more than 220 homeless families, only 11 of which have a connection to the city at the Econo Lodge on Burnett Road. Most of the homeless families are from the Boston area, he added.

The mayor said the city’s Fire and Health departments frequently must inspect the rooms to be sure there are no illegal appliances such as hot plates or microwave ovens being used that could pose a safety hazard.

Citing the cramped conditions, Bissonnette noted a family of two adults and four children were living in one room at the motel.

Superintendent of Schools Richard Rege said presently there are 123 students from these families attending the city’s schools.

“That number changes,” Rege said as families are placed in other housing and additional families are brought in.

Bissonnette said the Econo Lodge was paid $6 million in the last year by the state to house the families.

The mayor said the city would seek funding from the state to pay for the bussing, now that it has been identified as an unfunded mandate.

In other action, the School Committee discussed the new teacher evaluation procedure being implemented by the state and its impact. Chicopee, Rege explained, is a “Race to the Top” school that has accepted federal funding and will be required to use the new process before neighboring communities.

Holding up a large ring binder with the instructions for the new evaluations, Rege noted the complexity of the new process and said the city is meeting with the Chicopee Education Association about how to “implement at least a good part of it.”

Anyone who has an educational license, including Rege and other administrators, will go through the new process, the superintendent said.

Because Chicopee has been using an evaluation process that is similar in some ways to the new one, “we have a little bit of a foot up [compared to other school districts],” he added.

School Committee Vice Chair Marjorie Wojcik asked, “Are we going to have time to teach the kids? It seems we’re going to be tied up with paperwork.”

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The School Committee also accepted an award from Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen at its meeting from Alfred J. Picard Jr., a former teacher and president of the charity’s board of directors.

The 2011 Jonathan Tetherly Award was given to the Chicopee schools in recognition of the “long and distinguished partnership,” the schools have had with the Soup Kitchen, Picard said.

He noted the students, staff, faculty and administration had donated $50,000 and 50,000 pounds of food during the last three years.