Littleton School Committee Delays Vote as Two-Tier Bus Plan Costs Double Estimates

LITTLETON -- March 2, 2023, Littleton School Committee confronts a $484,000 annual cost gap to support delayed school start times. Business Manager Steve Mark told the committee Thursday that the district's only transportation bidder, D Bus Services, priced a two-tier bus model, the system required to support a later school start, at $1,247,400 for fiscal year 2024, against $763,020 for renewing the current three-tier system and roughly $603,000 under the expiring contract. Mark said D Bus representative Sandra declined to negotiate, citing the company's fixed costs for five additional vehicles, and warned that rejecting the bid risks arriving at September without a legally required carrier. A multi-year model showed the district's roughly $2.6 million school choice reserve declining to approximately $2 million by fiscal year 2027 if used to partially bridge the gap, while Town Administrator Anthony Ansaldi cautioned that the town cannot guarantee five-percent annual appropriation growth for the schools in coming years. Students from the Littleton High School DEI Club also presented arguments for retaining non-federal religious holidays on the school calendar, citing a jump in Asian student enrollment from four percent to 14.7 percent over the past decade. The committee deferred votes on both the bus contract and the religious holidays to its March 9 meeting, constrained by a March 24 deadline to award the transportation contract.