Transportation Director

To Retire

By Larissa Lytwyn

After serving the district for nearly 16 years, Director of Transportation Mary Kelly is seeking retirement. “I just sent a letter to [Superintendent of Schools] Evan Pitkoff requesting early retirement,” she said. “I can’t really speak more about it until the letter is looked at.”

Ms Kelly has served for years with only one assistant, Cathy Hydeck. Over the past few years, the town’s population — and number of school-aged residents — has grown significantly.

The transportation director’s job was complicated this year by a transition from a four- to three-tier school bus schedule that was instituted by the Board of Education as a cost-saving measure following the rejection of two town budgets last May. The new three-tier bus system created scheduling problems that took several weeks — and more than $60,000 — to resolve. The three-tier system was originally estimated to save the town about $141,000.

“I will definitely speak more about this issue next week,” Ms Kelly promised.