Lakewood, NJ – Lakewood Township officials concede they aren’t prepared for the chaos looming later this month when some 10,000 schoolchildren lose their busing, reports Shannon Mullen for the Asbury Park Press.
“We have no plan,” Township Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein told hundreds of concerned Latino parents who packed Town Hall last night. “It’s impossible.”
The school district has mailed letters home informing parents that busing will end effective Februay 26. For the township’s governing body, the busing crisis hits close to home. Three of Lichtenstein’s children will be among those affected, as will seven of Mayor Menashe Miller’s children.
“It is absolutely unacceptable,” Lichtenstein said.
Earlier this week, the school district posted safety videos and other materials for parents whose children will be walking to school, Mullen reports, adding that the Board of Education will hold a special meeting Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the high school commons to discuss the busing crisis.
The bussing tumult comes after voters overwhelmingly turned down a last-ditch $6.2 million tax levy that would have kept the buses rolling through the end of the current school year. Nearly 99 percent of referendum voters rejected the proposal.
As a result, nearly 10,000 children in grades K to 12 will have to walk or be driven to and from school, Mullen reports.
{CB Frommer-Matzav.com}
I want to take a moment to thank the askanim, such as Reb Meir Lichtenstein, as well as Reb Menashe Miller and Reb Isaac Akerman, who are selfless askanim, good people who work for the klal and get little credit for the chesed they do. Keep up the great work.
do private bussing it will work out cheaper than the tax hike. any service provided by government ALWAYS costs more. Government should not be in the service provider business, Privatize AMTRAK, MTA, Port Authority, Public Housing, PUBLIC SCHOOLS! and more.. and watch the costs go DOWN!
Instead of a tax levy – why doesn’t the frum community come together an hire PRIVATE BUSSES – I am sure the Yeshiva’s can get together and work out something
alot of the frum yeshivas in boro park and williamsburg have their own busses.
Mr anonymous you are 100% correct.
Anonymous is not 100% correct, he is 1000% correct if not more.
Whenever you eliminate the third party, things usually end up cheaper, definitely cheaper than a tax hike. And private enterprise is always more efficient than anything run by the government.
As an aside, if parents have cars, driving your child to and from school is a wonderful way to start their day. Where I grew up there were no school buses and our parents had to take us to school in the morning and bring us home. Today I wish I could do the same for my kids, but we live in a place where most people don’t have cars, including us.
My children are all eligible for mandated bussing and so far we are still waiting…carpooling daily is making me sick…sick and tired of the boe.
No one forced you to live there. If you cant take it anymore, move to a City-town that does have bussing.