On Tuesday, July 2, the Teaneck superintendent of schools and the Board of Education transportation staff will meet with interested parents regarding the cancellation of the board’s contract with D&M tours, which has been providing busing for Teaneck residents attending Bruriah High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
“Due to the cost per student for transportation on your child’s route exceeding the state-imposed maximum, we are unable to renew the Board’s current transportation contract with D&M Tours and we will no longer be able to provide busing to Bruriah High School starting in the fall,” wrote Melissa Simmons, the business administrator and board secretary of the Teaneck Board of Education, in a letter to affected parents on June 21.
A change in the calculation of the 20-mile maximum for distance to non-public schools for which Teaneck is required to provide busing led Simmons to issue a similar letter last August.
However, unlike last year’s letter, the current letter states that “qualifying students will receive ‘Aid in Lieu of Transportation’ payments for the 2019-2020 school year.”
While aid in lieu of busing would be lessen the blow to affected families, “it is unclear from the letter whether everyone receiving the letter is ‘qualifying’ for that aid and whether anyone will receive that aid,” said Mordy Rothberg, a Teaneck resident and parent of a student who attends Bruriah. It is also unclear whether the rising cost per student of the bus to Bruriah is a result of a decline in numbers of students attending Bruriah from Teaneck, or a result of last year’s recalculation of the 20-mile maximum for distance from a specific Teaneck address to the school. In the past, Bruriah has consistently attracted several dozen students from Teaneck.
Last August, after the initial letter was sent, significant parent concern was expressed and a meeting was held; at that time, busing to Bruriah was reinstated for the 2018-2019 school year only.
“This is not the first time that the Board of Ed has tried to eliminate busing for non-public school kids,” said Rothberg. “Busing is a very important issue in Bergen County and especially Teaneck, and it’s one of the reasons we moved here,” he said. Rothberg urged that those interested in continued busing for all non-public school students attend the meeting on July 2 at 6 p.m. It will take place at the Teaneck District office at 1 Merrison Street, Teaneck, in the staff development room.
