Stoughton committee denies appeal to waive bus fee for Young Way-area families; superintendent to seek safety and waiver info

At a Sept. 3 special meeting, the Stoughton School Committee voted 4-0-1 to deny a request to waive a locally set pay-and-ride bus fee for families in the Young Way/Smith/Swallow Lane area, with one member abstaining.

Superintendent Dr. Joe Baeta said he could not unilaterally grant an exception under current district policy and that the committee alone has the authority to change the fee policy. He said central office found no written record that previous administrators formally waived the fee for the families at issue.

The families, represented in a written submission by Anna Smith, asked the district to exempt them from the fee, saying pick-up conditions around Young Way made walking unsafe and that previous exceptions had been made informally. "We neither size has any paperwork," Baeta said in describing the central office review. He…