School Business Administrator Patrick Spencer told Marion School Committee members on September 2 that a report on area school bus inspection failures sounded worse than the situation actually was.

State school bus inspections conducted back in August, said Spencer, resulted in a 50 percent failure rate for school transportation company Braga Transportation Cozy Bus Co., Inc., the company that services Old Rochester Regional schools and Tri-Town district schools; however, the bus transportation company has other offices other than the Mattapoisett division, specifically in Fall River. Spencer said the fail rate for the Fall River division was higher than Mattapoisett, which is under different management.

Spencer said Tri-Town school district’s contract with the bus company has a clause that limits the age of busses used to transport students, while Fall River has no such clause in its contract.

During August inspections, 12 of the 28 busses failed, according to Spencer, but 10 of the 12 failed busses had only minor problems such as a flat tire or loose exhaust clamps that were swiftly rectified, bringing the busses up to passing.

“We take the safety of the kids very seriously,” said Spencer. “These inspections are done three times a year, and the purpose of these inspections is to find problems, big or small. Because you fail doesn’t mean you’re in bad shape; it just means you have to fix what’s wrong, and everything was fixed.”

All busses were fully functioning and passed inspection by the start of the school year on Tuesday, September 1. The next state inspections will be conducted in December or January, followed by another in late spring.

“I just wanted the full disclosure, and come out and clarify what’s going on,” said Spenser. “We are aware of what’s going on and we’re on top of it.”

Also during the September 3 school committee meeting, Superintendent Doug White said there are now about 350 Chromebook tablets at Sippican School, one for every student from grade 3 to grade 6. The district is leasing the 1:1 devices for three years, and at the end of the lease the district will own the Chromebooks, priced at $265 each.

The committee voted to amend the format of its agenda for meetings by moving action items to the top of the agenda and placing administrative updates farther down it.

Spencer, during his fiscal year 2015 closing update, announced a $119,000 surplus from FY15, roughly 2 percent of the budget.

“Which is pretty much what you try to do each year. A two-percent savings is what you shoot for,” said Spencer. “You don’t want too much or too little…. You want to have some sort of leeway in case something [unexpected] happens.”

The next meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for October 7 at 6:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry