![]() ![]() Luckily, it was just around the corner and showed up a couple of minutes later. "It’s the first time they’ve been late since the National Guard came," explained Carillo. Since early September, 85 applicants passed the test, McCarthy said, and they now fill open driving positions in districts NRT contracts with across the state.īack in Chelsea, on the Carillo family's front porch, Jaime and his son stood waiting for the school van. But we started with the Latino community because many of them work as monitors for a us now, and we’d like to get them behind the wheel." "Now have we done it in all languages? No. "That was a huge shift to allow this testing to be done in Spanish," said McCarthy. So far 22 people have taken the translated version. McCarthy said he's very excited about one recent change from the Registry of Motor Vehicles: The qualification test will now be offered in Spanish. He noticed an increase in driver applications after federal unemployment benefits expired in early September. McCarthy said his main concern now is driver recruitment, and he's currently feeling optimistic about it. "And then they can come back and tell us, 'Look this student might be better off with someone else.' But that has only happened once." "We did do some student management with the guards to identify certain things that are going on in the vehicle," explained John McCarthy the CEO of NRT, Chelsea’s bus contractor. Officials with the bus company said they're giving the National Guard members the same training they give everyone who drives students with special needs. ![]() But, she added, the district and the SEPAC talked a lot to address the group’s concerns. "They’re dealing with children who are neurodiverse, who have many disabilities and may have also had a traumatic experience crossing the border," said Angelica Bachour, secretary of Chelsea's SEPAC.īachour wondered if the National Guard would have enough training to take care of kids with special needs. Parents in the Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) in Chelsea had other concerns when they first heard the National Guard was coming. "I don’t want to raise any fear in anyone." "I always want to make sure our families feel safe and that our children feel safe," said Abeyta. When she first agreed to bring the National Guard in to help with transportation, she worried how parents would feel about people in military uniforms picking up kids, especially in this city, where about 45% of the residents are foreign-born and some are undocumented. Hearing that kind of response from a parent was a relief for district Superintendent Almi Abeyta. "More than anything, they're welcome." Jaime Carillo watches while the school bus monitor assists his son onto the school bus driven by a National Guardsman in Chelsea. "I think it’s normal to see them," he added. They were in the city a lot during the pandemic, helping out with food distribution and vaccinations. "I'm happy they brought in the drivers."Ĭarillo appreciates predictability, and said he likes seeing the Guard members around. "I feel good about it and more secure," said Carillo. Carillo's son is one of about 15 students in the district that's getting a lift from one of the uniformed officers. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)īut ever since the National Guard came to help Chelsea Public Schools with transportation, things changed for the Carillo family. ![]() The National Guard is assisting some districts around Massachusetts with transporting students due to a shortage of school bus drivers. " said that because there weren't enough drivers they had to pick kids up in two groups each morning." Jaime Carillo and his son look down the street as they wait for the boy's school van in Chelsea. "During the first three weeks of school I had to start dropping him off myself because they would come here around 8 ," explained Carillo. When classes first started, the two were spending a lot of time there the van that takes his son to school was coming much later than its 7:28 a.m. On a recent weekday, Jaime Carillo and his son waited for the ride to school in their usual spot on the front porch of the family’s duplex. (Jesse Costa/WBUR) This article is more than 1 year old. A National Guard member drives a school bus van in Chelsea. ![]()
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