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Committee presses staff on MBTA student-pass billing and activation after families report unused cards
Summary
Committee members and staff discussed MBTA student-pass billing, activation and occasional instances where distributed cards had no stored value; staff said bills are based on monthly tallies and that usage has tracked about 90–95% accuracy, while recommending follow-up with site administrators to confirm activation procedures.
Questions over MBTA student passes dominated part of the June 16 meeting as committee members described cases where distributed cards did not work or appeared to have no stored value.
Committee member Mr. Damiano asked whether passes stop being billed in the summer; staff said the district receives a monthly invoice based on assistant principals’ hand-tallies of distributed passes and that the district treats its purchase as a 10‑month contract (Sept. 1–June 30). "So far, it's been tracking about 90–95% accurate," staff said when asked how estimates matched invoiced use.
Several members and a parent reported specific card problems. One parent said their child's card had no value when used; Mr. King said several parents told him they were happy with the passes, but others reported activation problems. District staff suggested the issue may be administrative: a distributed card might not have been activated by the site administrator or MBTA administrator, and recommended contact with Mr. Horgan and local school staff to confirm activation and resolve individual cases.
Staff said they will review purchase orders and the billing tallies after paying June invoices to reconcile estimates to actual usage and to report back to the committee. The committee did not take formal action at the meeting but directed staff to follow up on activation and reconciliation questions.
