JAY — School Committee members voted Thursday to allow students to continue to drive themselves and passengers to class, if no Jay school bus is going to a Farmington vocational school.

Students need parental or guardian permission to do so.

It is a temporary solution until a new policy is approved to allow students who have classes at Foster Regional Applied Technology Center on days a Jay school bus is not going to the school. It also allows students who have already been driving to the Farmington school and inadvertently breaking the current school policy, to continue to do so if parents agree.

The current policy adopted in 1997 requires students to take a bus to Farmington and does not allow for students to travel in their own vehicles. There are three exceptions if they have permission to fix their car at the shop or to bring home a shop project or have a dentist or doctor appointment immediately after school.

It also doesn’t allow students to drive passengers to the school.

However a proposed new policy, which is already under revision, will allow it if parents grant permission. The new policy also will state that Jay school does not provide transportation on days a school bus is not scheduled to go.

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The issue came to light after three high school students, either juniors or seniors, were inadvertently enrolled in firefighting or composites courses at Foster Tech on days Jay was not sending a school bus, Superintendent Robert Wall said. Firefighting is on one off day, and composites on another.

There was one student who didn’t have a ride, Wall said.

It makes no sense to send a school bus with one student on it to Farmington, Wall said. The student was given permission to ride with a fellow student to the school.

He has written the new policy that would allow students to drive their own vehicles and take passengers, with parental permission, on days that there are scheduled classes for Jay, and days that are not scheduled, to enable students to take those classes.

The proposed policy had a first reading Thursday and drew several questions that administrators and School Committee members tried to iron out. The revised policy will get a second reading in November before it is finalized.

Chairman Mary Redmond-Luce asked that that policy be broadened to include students driving to other schools or colleges for courses.

Currently Jay High School students drive their own vehicles to Livermore Falls High School for courses there, Wall said.

dperry@sunjournal.com


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