Some families in Massachusetts are worried about a possible school bus driver strike this week.

Drivers for First Student, the largest school bus company in the country, could walk off the job Wednesday if they can’t reach a new deal by Tuesday night.

Wayland, Duxbury, Plymouth, Sudbury, Fitchburg, Leominster and Springfield are just some of the communities that use the bus service. According to the company, they represent more than 500 districts in 42 states plus Canada; Massachusetts and New Hampshire are among those states.

First Student is in national contract negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The union wants better retirement and medical benefits. The current deal expires on Tuesday. If they can’t agree on a new contract the union has authorized a potential strike starting Wednesday, April 1.

Local contracts include a no-strike clause, but the union’s national agreement may supersede local ones.

“Leominster Public Schools has no control over or influence in these negotiations,” Superintendent Robin Desmond wrote in a letter to parents Monday.

A First Student spokesperson said negotiations are continuing in good faith, but parents in Leominster are bracing for the worst.

“Not all parents can drive their kids in and out of school. The community is very dependent on transportation,” said Leominster parent Lyndsey Miller.

“They get released at 2:15 p.m., (for) a lot of parents’ work schedules that’s going to be hard to do,” said Corey Leighton, the parent of a high school student.

“It’s a broader problem, that’s for sure. So, I think parents will be understanding,” said Leominster parent Victor Novoa. “It would affect our work lives, and we’d have to balance the schedule.”

If your school district uses First Student and you have specific questions, reach out to your town’s school department. 

If you use your cell phone while driving, you may want to think twice — unless you’re willing to pay twice as much.

A bipartisan bill, backed by state law enforcement, would institute higher fines for drivers who use handheld devices behind the wheel. In some cases, motorists could lose their licenses for a month or more.

Sen. Donovan Fenton, a Democrat from Keene who serves on Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s Highway Safety Task Force, pointed to state crash data as reason for the change proposed in his Senate Bill 649

The number of traffic deaths in New Hampshire has crept up over the past few years. In 2023, there were 127 fatalities, at least six of which stemmed from distracted driving, Fenton said.

“Distracted driving is becoming more pronounced, more dangerous and more deadly,” he said at a public hearing last week. “The current penalties are not enough to change behavior, particularly with repeat offenses.”

There were 133 traffic deaths in 2024 and 138 in 2025, according to the Office of Highway Safety. In 2026 so far, thirteen people have died in car crashes.

Fenton’s bill would increase the amount someone has to pay for violating the prohibition on cell phone use while driving. First-time offenders would pay $250 instead of the current $100, and on the second violation in two years, the offender would pay $500. For the third offense in two years, they would pay $750 and lose their license for 30 days. All those penalties could increase if cell phone use behind the wheel is found to be a contributing factor in a car crash.

Current law allows hands-free operation of a cell phone via Bluetooth but prohibits handheld device use. The state collected more than $568,000 in related fines and penalty assessments in the most recent fiscal year.

Distracted driving was a contributing factor in 4,520 of the state’s nearly 28,000 non-fatal crashes in 2023, according to the Department of Safety. That’s a little over 16%, though a report from the task force said officials suspect distracted driving is difficult to track and underreported in more serious collisions. Cell phones are a common culprit in distracted driving.

Ayotte’s task force has highlighted other policies that it says would increase public safety, including doubling the license suspension period for refusing a breathalyzer test.

In the first 10 weeks of 2026, three-quarters of the people arrested for impaired driving in New Hampshire refused to take a breath alcohol test, Ayotte said in a recent press release. The governor has waged a public campaign for the proposed law, Senate Bill 260, which she says would disincentivize drivers from refusing the test.

What’s next: Senate Bill 649 breezed through the Senate earlier this year. The House of Representatives is set to vote on it in the coming weeks after a committee recommended its passage almost unanimously.