By Stacie N. Galang
PEABODY — School bus fees aren't going up, after all, but parents who already paid the higher rate must send a new check.
A last-minute increase to the School Department budget allowed the School Committee to keep the bus fee at $100 per child with a $200 family cap.
But 263 families had already sent checks for the previously announced higher fee, said Eileen Bresnahan, supervisor of transportation. Those checks will be returned, but not until a new check for the correct fee is received.
The deadline to pay for busing is July 17, regardless of whether parents are paying for the first time or are sending a new check.
Bresnahan said if parents do not send new checks by the deadline, the School Department will process their first check. It will take six to eight weeks to issue a refund with the balance, the supervisor said.
She said the only funds that have been deposited are money orders, because they can't be returned. Refunds with the balance from the money orders will be mailed to parents, Bresnahan said.
Families can still sign up for bus transportation. The city also buses students to two parochial schools, St. John the Baptist and Bishop Fenwick High School, and the private Covenant Christian Academy.
The checks can be mailed or dropped off at the Kiley Administration offices.
The transportation supervisor said her department will send out bus passes about two weeks before the start of school Aug. 31.
