Beverly transportation director outlines rider counts, NICS out‑of‑district contract and electric‑bus plans

Dana Cruishek, Beverly Public Schools’ director of transportation, gave the Finance and Facilities committee an annual overview of routes, riders, drivers and the district’s fleet on May 28.

Cruishek said the district’s general‑education transportation serves 1,235 students, including “47 students from the Saints Academy,” with 149 special‑education riders transported within Beverly and 31 transported out of district. McKinney‑Vento out‑of‑district transportation accounts for 105 students. He described current route counts as: elementary — nine general‑education routes and 17 special‑education routes (including McEwen School); middle school — 12 general and 10 special; high school — nine general and two special.

The presentation focused on three operational areas: a new consolidated out‑of‑district contract, driver recruitment and training, and the electric‑bus fleet.

Why it matters: the district transports students to both in‑district schools and specialized out‑of‑district programs that can be costly on a per‑student basis. Consolidating some out‑of‑district runs through a cooperative bid could reduce the per‑district share of long,…