Editor’s Note: After The Jewish Link went to press on Wednesday evening, June 16, the Board of Education voted 9-0 to reinstate courtesy busing.
Teaneck—Successfully educating a child can be a challenging task; physically getting to school should prove less difficult. That is not the case for close to 400 families living in Teaneck. The Teaneck Board of Education (BOE) recently informed parents of students who live less than two miles from their respective schools that courtesy busing will no longer be provided.
The students affected by this change are between first and fourth grade and attend Whittier, Hawthorne and Lowell elementary schools, as well as the Teaneck Community Charter School and Yeshivat He’Atid.
Parents are outraged and many have explained that they have no way to get their children to school if busing is eliminated. One parent confided that he has a child with special needs who is picked up to go to school at the same time his second grader has to be at school. Without busing, the parent would have to be in two places at the same time. Furthermore, the consideration of these children getting to school independently has raised security concerns among the families involved. Parents were told that the BOE would arrange for additional crossing guards or police officers to ensure a more secure environment for youngsters getting to school by foot. Many believe that the extra measures put into place will end up costing more than the busing itself.
The Teaneck Board of Education runs on a $4.8 million dollar transportation budget. The savings that will be incurred should courtesy busing be eliminated is said to be about $300,000. After evaluating that percentage of funds, most families cannot understand how this would be a wise choice seeing that so many lives will be affected. One irate parent expressed that classifying this service as courtesy busing itself is inappropriate. “We pay our taxes and this is anything short of a courtesy.”
Philip Moell, a father of three living in Teaneck, has taken an active role in organizing a group dedicated to overturning this decision. Moell’s initial goal was to offer people a common platform to gather and express how this change will affect their lives. “We cannot stand by and watch our children?s safety, our quality of life and community standards be sacrificed for obvious political reasons, reasons that are disguised as financial ‘savings,’ ‘savings’ that are getting dumped on other budgets but will still have to be picked up by our tax dollars and will probably cost us more. This decision was taken without considering the consequences and without having a contingency plan in place,” Moell told The Jewish Link. This information became accessible to parents in a letter that came as a complete surprise. “When a decision deeply impacts so many individuals, a better form of communication is required,” Moell added.
A group of close to 100 people gathered before Superintendent Barbara Pinsak last week to express their discontent. The environment was angry and at times quite sad. One woman dissolved into tears while describing what this change will do to her family’s life. A young child stood up to present his perspective on the importance of courtesy busing and how he relies on it to get to school. It appeared that the BOE themselves did not properly evaluate the consequences of this decision. One woman presented extensive research into the budget, providing alternate ways to cut spending that might produce less catastrophic results. Those who spoke out believe the decision was made in a very haphazard manner, not representing the interests of the children and their families. From one erroneous decision, many subsequent problems arise, they argued. Parents also pointed out that hundreds of cars would converge on residential blocks surrounding the schools. This will create unwanted congestion, greater possibility for accidents and a decrease in property value for those homeowners.
Keith Kaplan, secretary to the planning board and an active community member, said he believes the issue lies in the funding formula that is in place for the BOE. “Beyond the tremendous quality-of-life sacrifice, this move places safety and financial hardships on many segments of our township. The Board of Education should instead focus on reducing line-item expenditures across the budget, which would more effectively insulate our parents and young children from the pain of budget cuts,” suggested Kaplan. “In 2011, after an attempt to eliminate courtesy busing, the Board of Education president said that restoring bus service “was the right thing for us to do,” in the face of parents’ outcry. The impact on our neighbors and family is no less acute now than it was then. It’s the ‘right thing for us to do’ today. We deserve a better plan.”
To the BOE, busing appears to be an easy cut to the budget, but for many local families it is anything but easy. While there never seems to be an ideal place to cut spending, eliminating courtesy busing seems like a devastating blow with little bang for the buck.
Community member Avi Lopchinsky issued an invitation to the BOE members via email: “I would like to invite you to walk with me from my house to my son’s school and back carrying his backpack. If at the end of the 3.8 mile trip, you still honestly believe it is something appropriate for an elementary school student to do on a daily basis I will happily support your decision,” he wrote. At press time, he had only heard back from one BOE member.
“I’m a bit ‘shocked’ no one is willing to put their feet where their vote is,” he wrote.
Pinsak explained that there is still opportunity for the board to reverse this decision before school resumes; however, in order to do so, something else will have to be reduced. There will be a board meeting held at Teaneck High School, on June 22 at 8 p.m. Parents and advocates are urged to attend.
By Andrea Nissel
