Newton’s School Committee (NSC) voted to cut down busing for students attending private schools starting September 2025 in its meeting Monday, citing funding issues.
“It would be carrying the costs for an additional year when we’ve already essentially agreed that we can no longer carry those costs,” Tamika Olszewski, a committee member, said. “So it would be imprudent to put it off any longer.”
Since the 1980s, Newton Public Schools (NPS) has provided students of both public and private schools with transportation.
Private school students, however, are afforded transport to any religious private school in Newton, while public school students are restricted to transportation within their zone district, or a specific area of the city surrounding a public school.
Students at religious private schools in the city said they rely on these bus routes to get to and from school each day.
Helena Aguilar-Castro, a fifth grader at Mount Alvernia Academy, expressed her disapproval of the proposed change, saying that her family moved to Newton because they wanted public transportation to attend their private school.
“My parents chose to send me and my two brothers to Mount Alvernia because of the faith-based education, something that we would not receive at our local elementary school,” Aguilar-Casto said. “We moved to New England two years ago, expecting that the taxes we pay would be used on children’s transportation.”
But Olszewski responded that the busing for private school students makes it so that not all public school students in Newton have access to buses, something she said is inequitable.
“If we’re putting it off for another year, then that’s another year of inequity,” Olszewski said.
Others urged the NSC to delay its vote on the issue until it explored alternative solutions, like providing subsidized transportation to private school students or making a schedule so that the public and private students do not overlap.
The principal of Mount Alvernia Academy, Mary Ferrucci, said busing for Mount Alvernia doesn’t have negative consequences for other students.
“The school committee’s rationale for eliminating private school bus routes centers on improving timeliness and reducing overcrowding in the public school routes, however, I respectfully disagree that cutting Mount Alvernia bus routes would have that effect,” Ferrucci said. “It’s hard to understand how cutting our roots will alleviate overcrowding for public school students.”
Newton is allowed to restrict private school busing to within zone districts, because state law says that standards for busing private and public school students must be equal.
Given this, NSC member Anping Shen said he was empathetic to the struggles of private school students who will be affected by a lack of busing, but that the legal issue had to take precedence.
“I got a letter yesterday saying ‘I have three kids, and two kids are going to private schools and only have one bus,’” Shen said. “I could put myself into that situation, and I feel very sorry for that situation. But on the other hand, we have legal obligations.”
Shen said he was unable to justify the additional $240,000 per year spent on these routes for private school students, especially given their current inability to provide busing to all public school students.
“If not legal, at least we have an obligation to the public school students first,” Shen said. “If we cannot do a good job, if we don’t have money, then I think the choice is pretty obvious.”
The motion to reduce private students’ access to said transportation starting in September 2025 passed 5–2.
Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and NSC Chair Chris Brezski voted against the measure.