BOE Candidate Email Points to Discrepancies in Busing Controversy

Contradiction between public statements by BOE Members and reported numbers to the State on Courtesy Busing

If you have yet to pay attention, the issue is that some families with Subscription busing (those that pay for busing because they don’t qualify based on their distance from the home to the school of 2 miles) are having their services canceled by the District. The other issue is that it appears, based on an email a parent sent to BHCW yesterday, the Finance Committee made the decision on these cuts and that the Board as a whole was not involved in the decision as of that date.

At the same time, families who receive Courtesy busing for free (busing they also do not qualify for because of the same reasons) are not experiencing cuts.

In the emails we’ve observed, the District cannot explain the criteria used in deciding who receives courtesy busing. Given how politics involves itself in areas it shouldn’t in this town, you can understand why those who are paying for busing are upset they are getting cuts while those who receive it for free are not, especially when the BOE President and Superintendent cannot articulate criteria that was used to arrive at how one receives Courtesy Busing.

The email and attachments provided by Ms. Akiri below highlight another concerning fact. During the Budget meetings, BOE Member Pam Stanley put the number of those receiving Courtesy busing at 200, yet the District reported that the number is 337 to the Department of Education. That’s a +137 difference occurring within the context of an explanation from the District that the cuts to Subscription busing are due to a driver shortage.

If that is the case and the 337 number is accurate, one must wonder how that +137 could be maintained. For budget purposes, if the 337 parents were charged the same cost for busing as subscription busing parents are ($1000 per student), it would lead to $337,000 in revenue for District.

You will notice when reading the email that Ms. Akiri did not receive a reply to her questions.

From Sai Akiri:

Since busing was one of the key issues highlighted during the 2023-24 budget planning process, and the focus on equity of busing for all students, I wanted to follow up on the topic of courtesy and subscription busing. I sent my initial email on June 22, 2023 and follow up email on July 31, 2023 but am yet to receive a response.

I believe the district should have the required data to provide a clarification as our district submits data on transportation to State Department of education along with a certification stating the numbers are accurate every year. Berkeley heights public schoolreported transportation numbers for 2022-23 to NJ Dept of Ed for compilation of DRTRS – District Report of Transported resident students