School Committee raises bus fees, details ICE plans

School Committee · Meeting of April 13, 2026

Watertown School Committee voted to raise optional bus fees and detailed ICE response plans. Members approved a 7-0 roll call raising the optional transportation fee from $300 to $500 per student with a $750 family cap, effective July 1, and adopted a one-year shared-bus routing plan for Hosmer Elementary and the middle school. Parent Erin Ward told the committee "we are here to ask whether the schools have specific protocols" after an April 10 ICE arrest near Conniff Elementary, and the superintendent said the district aims to finalize a consolidated response toolkit, built from a Massachusetts Teachers Association model, by May.

The committee also gave first readings to a proposed K-12 bell-to-bell phone ban, which student representative Nico called unfair to older students, and heard that high school construction has slipped to an April 30 substantial-completion target amid an Eversource power delay.

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Source: the School Committee meeting of April 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.