Stoughton Schools Finds Bus Seats For 45 Students After Capacity Issue

STOUGHTON, MA — Stoughton Public Schools has resolved a bus capacity issue that had left dozens of secondary students without transportation for the coming school year.

The district’s transportation provider adjusted existing routes to accommodate all 45 affected students, school officials announced Tuesday. The change means every family that submitted an application and any required payment by the deadline has received a bus seat for the 2026-27 school year.

Families of the 45 students will receive confirmation emails from the district’s transportation office and orange postcards containing their students’ route information. Families affected by one bus number change will also receive notifications and updated postcards. The bus stop location will remain the same.

The district did not consider adding another bus because transportation costs and budget constraints made it financially unviable. Instead, the transportation provider reviewed the routes and made adjustments to create enough capacity.

“We are very pleased that we have been able to find a solution that ensures these students will have transportation,” Superintendent Juliette Miller said in Tuesday's announcement. “At the same time, this situation has highlighted the need for us to take a closer look at our transportation processes.”

Miller said the district will work with its transportation department and provider to review the application process, allocation of transportation resources and student placement procedures. The review will include family feedback.

“Our goal is to develop a transportation process that is more effective, accurate and efficient and that allows us to better anticipate and respond to transportation needs,” Miller said.

Bus registration ran from May 13 through June 30. The district had warned that seats were limited and that submitting an application by the deadline did not guarantee placement, according to the Stoughton Public Schools registration announcement.

The standard bus fee for 2026-27 is $375 per student with a $750 household cap. Transportation is free for students in grades K-6 who live more than two miles from their assigned schools.

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