Fact Checking the Community Discussion on Courtesy Busing
-John Migueis, Shauna William & Laura Kapuscinski Assertion 1: The District is responsible for defining hazardous roads. From the NJ Dept. Of Education The Township, not the District, holds the responsibility for defining hazardous roads. For the past two years, as per the 2023 BHPSNJ Finance Committee Meeting Minutes, the Township and BHPD indicated that no roads were hazardous. None....
John’s Letter to the BOE on the Busing Issue
Good Afternoon, With all the money the District has put away, I am not clear as to why, for this year at least, we could not offer either Universal Busing or at least a deep discount to ALL families. Dipti, Tom, Sai, Natasha I understand the issue of fairness regarding how the roads were determined. It felt deliberate and political and intended to put those BOE...
A Response to John’s Articles & Possible Solutions to the Transportation Dilemma.
A response to John’s articles and two possible solutions to the transportation dilemma: Universal Bussing or No Bussing! The bussing issue cannot and will not be resolved through any process to differentiate eligibility based upon household income. Although some equations based on income and children per household would make the process fairer, they are not equitable ways to establish policies...
A Second Possible Solution to The Courtesy Busing Issue
Families who live within 2 miles of their children’s school must notify the District of their desire for bussing by a cut off date. All children who qualify for the lunch program receive bussing for free. Families of children who do not qualify for the lunch program are to pay the cost of the service equally. During this time the...
A Possible Solution to the Busing Issue
Just an Idea… Subscription Busing Tier 1 Household not on a hazardous route and makes at or above the median income for Berkeley Heights Households – $1000 Tier 2 All Caregivers demonstrate proof of employment, do not live on a hazardous route and make below the median income (basement of 80%) for Berkeley Heights Households – $500 Tier 3 All...
Families on Both Sides of the Courtesy Busing Issue Need Our BOE To Work Together
Recently, a former BOE Member and proxy for Ms. Stanley on Social media accused Ms. Khanna of changing her positions within the context of Courtesy Busing, or – as he put it- this “child safety” policy. Again, let’s look at the facts behind this empirically thin argument. Here is another clip of Ms. Stanley arguing that we get rid of...
The Courtesy Busing Vote & Where We Can Go From Here
Berkeley Heights Still Has Time to Fix This The transportation discussion within the BHPS District is multifaceted and, at the same time, all-over-the-place. There are underlying issues and some serious concerns on both sides of the spectrum that need to be addressed and properly understood. Concerns of safety are legitimate; no one in their right mind would argue that safety shouldn’t be at the forefront of discussions surrounding...
Resident Letter to BOE on Courtesy Busing
The following is an email provided to BHCW from Berkeley Heights Resident and Parent Michael Leblond to the Berkeley Heights Board of Education. Dear members of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education, Like many of the issues that have plagued this district for years, the bussing discussion continues to revolve around one main problem, secrecy. Instead of releasing all the...
“Slim Empirical Arguments”, “Pulling out the Rug” and “State Aid”
Level-Setting the Community Discussion on the Transportation Policy I encourage every parent to get involved, regardless of how they feel about the transportation policy or any policy for that matter. It is important for different voices on all sides to present their arguments – even if it is an opinion -opinions are important – they offer a perspective or a...
Child Safety is Being used as a Shield to Push through a Disturbing Policy Precedent
And Another Great Example as to Why OPRA is so Important… Before October 2023, the NJ Department of Education published the DRTRS summary report that anyone could access. Unfortunately, after multiple Berkeley Heights residents raised questions on the discrepancy in the number of Courtesy busing students reported to the state department of education and by the district last year, the...
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