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Rochester School Committee approves police "Operation Yellow Bus," accepts $200,000 earmark

Passing a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing carries a fine of at least $250 in Massachusetts. The committee also accepted $359,643 in grants and an earmark and approved a two-year plan for Rochester Memorial School.

By the SC360 Schools Desk | Published Nov. 14, 2026 | Last verified Nov. 14, 2026, 10:44 a.m. ET

ROCHESTER Rochester police officers will ride school buses and follow bus routes in unmarked cars to catch drivers who pass stopped buses, under a plan the Rochester School Committee approved Thursday night.

Members approved the plan, which the police department calls Operation Yellow Bus, by voice vote at their Nov. 12 meeting at Rochester Memorial School. Superintendent Michael S. Nelson presented it for Police Chief Michael Assad Jr., describing it as "a proactive traffic enforcement initiative designed to identify, deter and hold accountable motorists" who illegally pass stopped school buses while students get on or off.

The same night, the committee accepted a $200,000 state earmark for special education at Rochester Memorial and five federal grants, approved the school's improvement plan for the next two years and heard its 2026 MCAS results.

How the bus plan works

The operation grew out of complaints residents made to the police department about drivers passing school buses, Nelson told the committee. Officers will ride aboard buses and others will follow designated routes in unmarked police vehicles, he said, and the bus company, the school administration and the police will agree on when the targeted details run.

Quoting the plan, Nelson said Operation Yellow Bus "is not about generating citations or revenues," and he summed up its message as "when the yellow bus stops, you stop." He asked for approval "so we could begin this program," but no start date was given at the meeting.

Under Chapter 90, Section 14 of the General Laws, a driver must stop for a school bus that has stopped with its red lights flashing and stay stopped until the lights go off, and a first offense carries a fine of at least $250. A second brings a fine of $500 to $1,000 and the loss of the driver's license, with no new license for six months, and a third or later offense means a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 and a one-year wait for a license.

South Coast 360 has asked Chief Assad about the operation, including when it starts, and has asked Nelson about the committee's decisions, and will update this story when they answer.

Grants and the earmark

The $200,000 is a state Fair Share earmark that the agenda credits to state Sen. Michael Rodrigues. The state spending law approved June 12, Chapter 101 of the Acts of 2026, says the money "shall be expended to Rochester public schools to offset special education costs at the Rochester Memorial school."

The five federal grants for fiscal 2027 add up to $159,643: two special education grants of $122,301 and $5,984, a Title I grant of $15,392, a Title IV grant of $10,000 and a Title II grant of $5,966. With the earmark, that is $359,643 by our count. Members also accepted two donations, recess equipment and a clarinet for the music department.

Test scores and the school plan

In the state's 2026 results, 46% of Rochester students tested in grades 3 to 6 met or exceeded expectations in English and 53% in math, and 55% of fifth graders did so in science, according to the state education department. Rochester Memorial outscored the state average in all three subjects, said the presentation led by Sharlene Fedorowicz, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. Many students came close, and the presentation's slides show 19 fourth graders, 17 fifth graders and 11 sixth graders missed meeting expectations in English by a few questions.

The committee approved the 2026-2028 School Improvement Plan, presented by Principal Heidi Letendre and Assistant Principal Joshua Vanderquist, with goals in teaching and learning, professional learning, student supports, school climate and safety. Nelson said the district needs "initiative focus" now, to "let our teachers wrap their hands around incredible high-quality programs" already in place.

The budget

Rochester's schools closed fiscal 2026 with $20,410.80 left of a $7,421,882 budget, and as of Oct. 31 had $862,358 left of this year's $7,638,169, according to reports from Michael Perrone, interim assistant superintendent of finance and operations. A member giving the budget subcommittee's report said early numbers for fiscal 2028 point to "another tight budget year."

Public comment

Two Rochester parents used the public comment period to describe months of problems on Bus 7, including a September afternoon when, one said, the bus ran 44 minutes late with no word to families. One of them said afternoon updates had improved over the past week or two. Letendre later told the committee that some parents had not checked the box to get text messages when signing up for PowerSchool, so alerts were not reaching them. She also said, "we would love monitors on every bus also," but that the budget drives decisions like that.

Much of the rest of the roughly 30-minute comment period turned to a dispute over restroom use at Rochester Memorial that speakers also raised at the committee's Sept. 24 meeting. Some speakers thanked the administration and committee for following state law, and others said girls' privacy was not protected and called for a different approach.

Voices rose when one speaker went past the three-minute limit, told members he would "turn this town upside down until you answer" and traded words with people in the audience. A uniformed police officer walked over and stood at the side of the audience, someone called for a recess, and moments later the chair asked for a motion to resume the meeting as scheduled, which members approved by voice vote.

Chair Katherine Duggan then warned that anyone "unable to keep control over your voice or your body" would be "asked to leave and escorted off the premises." Three more speakers followed, no one was asked to leave, and the meeting went on without another interruption.

The rules on restroom use in Massachusetts public schools come from state law and state guidance: Chapter 76, Section 5 of the General Laws bars discrimination against public school students in a school's "advantages, privileges and courses of study" on account of gender identity, among other categories, and does not mention restrooms. The state education department's guidance applying it says a transgender student may use the restroom that matches the student's gender identity, and that one who is uncomfortable with that should be offered a safe alternative, such as a single restroom or the nurse's restroom. Speakers on one side Thursday said the district is following that law, and speakers on the other said guidance is not law and does not outweigh girls' privacy under federal Title IX.

At the committee's Sept. 24 meeting, Duggan said complaints about individual students and how a specific situation was resolved "are not school committee matters," according to minutes the committee approved Thursday.

What happens next

The committee went into executive session under the open meeting law exceptions for collective bargaining or litigation strategy and for complying with a law or federal grant requirement, then adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Its next meeting is Thursday, Jan. 7, 2027, with an initial budget review listed for January, and the next joint school committee meeting is Thursday, Jan. 28, 2027. Questions for the committee go to Melissa Wilcox, executive assistant to the superintendent, at 508-758-2772, ext. 1956.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Every fact comes from the ORCTV recording of the Rochester School Committee's Nov. 12 meeting, transcribed in full; the committee's 118-page meeting document and its agenda; Chapter 90, Section 14 and Chapter 76, Section 5 of the General Laws; the state education department's gender identity guidance and its 2026 district MCAS report; Chapter 101 of the Acts of 2026 and the department's fiscal 2027 Fair Share list; and the district and town directories, all listed below. We read and reread them Nov. 11 to 14. Votes were by voice, and the recording does not give a count. The grant totals are our own addition. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. No student and no public commenter is named. Asked and not yet answered: Police Chief Michael Assad Jr. and Superintendent Michael S. Nelson.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (12)

  1. 11/12/26 - Rochester School Committee - November 12th, 2026ORCTV Government, Vimeo; recording of the full meeting, about 2 hours 9 minutes. Every vote, statement and the public comment period, including the recess and the officer, with time stamps in the evidence file. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  2. Rochester School Committee meeting document, Nov. 12, 2026Old Rochester Regional School District and Union 55, 118 pages: agenda, the Sept. 24 minutes, the improvement plan, the MCAS slides, the grant notices, the warrant vouchers naming the members, and the business office memos dated Nov. 12. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  3. Rochester School Committee Meeting agenda, November 12, 2026, 6 p.m.Rochester Public Schools; stamped received by the Rochester assistant town clerk Nov. 10, 2026, 8:47 a.m. Read Nov. 10 and 11, 2026.
  4. General Laws, Chapter 90, Section 14Massachusetts Legislature. The duty to stop for a stopped school bus with flashing red lights, the fines and the license penalties. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  5. General Laws, Chapter 76, Section 5Massachusetts Legislature. No discrimination in public school admission or "advantages, privileges and courses of study" on account of gender identity and other categories. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  6. Guidance for Massachusetts Public Schools: Creating a Safe and Supportive School Environment, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender IdentityMassachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Section on restrooms, locker rooms and changing facilities. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  7. MCAS state report, district level, 2026, grades 3 to 8, all studentsMassachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; data last updated Sept. 22, 2026. Rochester rows. Read Oct. 24, 2026; rechecked Nov. 11, 2026.
  8. Chapter 101 of the Acts of 2026, item 1596-2517Massachusetts Legislature. Supplemental spending law approved June 12, 2026; the Rochester earmark language. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  9. FY2027 Fair Share Earmarks, Fund Code 2518Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Rochester, $200,000. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  10. School CommitteeOld Rochester Regional School District and Union 55. Rochester members for 2026-2027 with Katherine Duggan as chair; committee contact Melissa Wilcox. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  11. DirectoryOld Rochester Regional School District. Titles for Superintendent Michael S. Nelson and Assistant Superintendent Sharlene Fedorowicz. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  12. Town of Rochester staff directoryTown of Rochester. Police Chief Michael Assad Jr. Read Oct. 20, 2026.

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