School Busing

This week, I’d like to write about school busing and let everyone know I stand on the issue. First off, let’s define what is on the table – the label school busing covers a lot of ground. For this discussion there are “flavors” of busing: Mandated, Hazard, and Courtesy busing. Mandated busing is state-mandated busing for students that reside beyond a certain distance from their school – elementary school students that live more than 2 miles from their school, and middle and high school students that live more than 2.5 miles away from their school are required to be offered a bus ride to and from school by the school district. Hazard busing is state-mandated busing for students that live too close to their school to qualify for Mandated busing, yet the route to the school is considered hazardous as defined by any one of several entities (state, municipal, and/or other government agency). Hazardous busing is required by law to be offered by the school district. Courtesy busing is the term used to describe any bus service offered to any students that live close enough to their school (less than 2 or 2.5 miles from their school), and have an otherwise safe path to their school (does not meet any government definition of Hazardous). Courtesy busing is not required by law, hence the name “Courtesy”.

Why is busing an issue? What changed? Simply put, the state decided to reclassify busing expenses, causing them to fall under a budget increase cap of 4 percent a year, part of legislation referred to as S-1701 – a misguided attempt to reduce property taxes by imposing simple-minded limits on school spending.

Here in the Hopewell Valley, our school district has decided to progressively withdraw funding for hazardous busing, opting to transfer the burden to the local municipalities over the next three years in an effort to create some breathing room inside the budget cap imposed by S-1701, and allow our school district to continue to offer an excellent educational experience to our children with minimal cuts over the previous year. While their actions have a certain logic, I feel the real answer lies elsewhere, but I doubt we’ll have much choice in the near-term.

In my opinion, School busing is the responsibility of the School District – period.

What’s the answer? For the New Jersey Legislature to correct not only S-1701 and pull busing out from under the four percent annual budget cap, but to also amend other laws to redefine Mandated and Hazardous busing to impose more reasonable limits given today’s environment – I think a half-mile walk for elementary age students, and a one mile walk for high school age children is more in line with what most parents feel is reasonable, but this change can’t happen before the start of the next school year (if ever.

I welcome your comments on this position, and encourage anyone that is interested to vist my web presence at http://hansen2007.blogspot.com to see where I stand on this, and other topics.

Ken Hansen
Hopewell Township