Safe Rides will be a year-long program, according to Nancy Holczer, chair of The Newton Partnership’s Safe Rides Task Force.
Safe Rides is a free service that allows North or South students to get a ride home to Newton or Boston confidentially from 10:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, Holczer said.
“It’s for those emergency situations where kids really need a ride,” Holczer said.
“We aren’t condoning drinking, but we know that it’s happening.
“It can also be for not only when there is drinking, but if someone is on a date and there is aggressive behavior, or if someone is in a car and the driver is driving unsafely,” she said.
Last March, principal Jennifer Price, a member of the Safe Rides Task Force, said Safe Rides offered a safe option for students.
“My goal as principal is safety, first and foremost,” Price said.
Safe Rides conducted a pilot weekend June 5 and 6 last year, Holczer said.
“We had close to 200 students signed up to be able to access the service,” Holczer said. “A federal evaluator contacted parents and students who were signed up to use the service, and the feedback was very positive.”
Holczer said that because the service is confidential, exact numbers of how many students used the service are not available.
After the pilot, the Safe Rides Task Force, which is made up of North and South parents, students, Newton police and school system professionals, met and decided to make Safe Rides a year-long program, Holczer said.
Funding for the program is part of a four-year federal grant given to The Newton Partnership, Holczer said.
Students must be signed up to use the service, but if they take a Safe Ride, parents will not be notified and the ride will be confidential, Holczer said.
To sign up, students can pick up in forms in the house offices, which have information on the program as well as permission slips, Holczer said.
Students under 18 must have parents sign the permission form, but students over 18 can sign their own forms.

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