The Jackson private school bus passes are to arrive in the mail today.
The bus stops are being arranged as cluster stops to ensure maximum efficiency as the school year begins, according to a resident working with the Board of Education. “This means, the stops are central stops and are not individually based.”
As earlier reported, this is a new program which will need ironing out.
“Everyone is urged not to call the district asking for changes at this point, and to give the district the time to work out this new endeavor. The district is working for everyone’s benefit and cooperation is needed to ensure that this works. The district will review the routes AFTER the school year gets off to a good start and possibly alter the routes accordingly.”
Thank you Susan, Marry and everyone for your hard work
Jackson district deserves a kudos for giving this a real try and I urge all the frum folks to be patient and thankful
I got a stop 1.5 miles from my house and 1 hr and 30 min before school starts.
I find it a little hard to believe that your bus stop is 1.5 miles from your house. However the trip can be that long. My children were on bus about 45 minutes to get to a school that was only 8 miles away. It all depends on their route and how many other children they have to pick up.
People in my neighborhood (white road area) got stops over 2 miles from their house!!
I have heard from a friend that other towns have a “central drop off and pick up location” for private school busing. It could make sense because then your children are not on the bus such a long time. If they have to pick up each child and take them to different private schools all over Lakewood (and you have many schools) the children would be on the bus a very long time. As a parent I would rather drop off at a central stop and pick up than have my child on the bus for hours.
Stop is more than half way to my boys yeshiva. Need to drop off the girls at school too and child at daycare. This bus stop is over one and half miles away from me. I understand that Jackson wants to save money, but pulling a bunch of kids from different schools together onto one bus and picking a stop in the middle of them and saying get there because that’s where the bus stop is, is not helpful to anyone. There has to be some accountability, Jackson shouldn’t be allowed to do this and say they’ve satisfied the state requirement of providing transportation. Don’t be cheap on our cheshbon. I would’ve much rathered to arrange my own transportation with the aid in lieu and pay any extra. We’re paying taxes, we shouldn’t be ripped off like this. We should file a petition with the state to review this.
People complain about how terrible it is to live in Lakewood and decide to move to Jackson. You have to realize that living in Jackson means you don’t get the benefits of some of the things in Lakewood . Jackson might just give you a bus stop 1.5 miles away . In Lakewood people gripe if the syop is a block or 2 away, do I guess it puts things in perspective . Just keep in mind that Jackson peiple are using all of,Lakewoods schools ,shuls , stores, roads ,infrastructure and Lakewood is not getting one penny in real estate taxes to make up for it .
What could someone in Shira’s situation do (being given a stop that is very impractical, yet losing right to aid in lieu)?
Maybe the reason people moved to Jackson is NOT by choice.
Rather they are yeshiva guys who were priced out of the lkwd market by Brooklyners/developers!
Moshe, whatever point you’re trying to make, what does it have to do with Jackson residents busing to lakewood schools?
We pay our assessed real estate taxes, as well as income taxes with accordance to federal and state laws.
We need to get our kids transported to school in an efficient manner, so parents can still retain their jobs and not spend 3 hours daily delivering their children to schools.
My private transportation last year cost me about 6,000. At least I could use aid in lieu to cover most of it.
If they give stops to only some of my kids (as they are planning to this year), I still have to be on the road driving my bus-less kids at the same time that I would have to wait with or meet my bussed kids at their assigned stops.
This is untenable, and the reduced aid in lieu cannot cover alternative private transportation arrangements.
It should be either proper usable busing or aid in lieu; not unusable stops just to use as an excuse to strip parents of aid in lieu payments.
Regarding our choice of forgoing some of the benefits of living in lakewood: transportation to a non public school or aid in lieu is not limited to residents of lakewood, rather to a 20-mile distance from school of choice (if I remember the number correctly).
Why should we be forced to forgo it??
1.5 miles away from home for a bus stop is indeed ridiculous. Either provide a useful bus stop or provide the reimbursement for transportation. This is a cop- out and out-right cheating to get away with the reimbursement. Completely agree with Shira’s issue.
The point I think Moshe was making was not that you are not entitled to whatever mandated services you are entitled to . The point was that if Jackson figures out a way that technically allows them to be considered as giving you busing ,even if it doesn’t work for you , then you might have,a problem . Living in Lakewood comes with the possibility that we have enough numbers to have some power to convince the relevant authorities that we need more than just technical busing or other services . Living in a town where you are a small minority ,does not give you that clout . Even in Lakewood, it’s getting harder .
If the law says that such stops and distances are not acceptable, then by all means you should get what is coming to you .
Hey Susan and Mary:
I hope that you are following the comments here:
It’s not reasonable to ask parents to drive 3-4 miles to a bus stop. And ditto for the way home.
Not all the neighborhoods in Jackson are near each other.
Please bear in mind the Kensington Manor neighborhoods.
At leat take a drive on some of the routes.
Cause right now the people are pretty miffed.
And this whole situation is doing more harm than good.
Thanks for understanding
agreed!! most of the Kensington Manor neighborhood (i.e. White road area) got stops 2-2.5 miles from their home!!!!!!!!
Could someone advise me what to do?
It is now 2 business days before school starts. The only information I have is a note that my kids who attend school A would be getting a bus. Kids who go to school B aren’t getting a bus.
I have no busing details for school A, do not know when and where I would have to put those kids on and take off the bus.
Consequently, I do not know if their busing schedule enables me to drive other kids to school B in the morning.
In the afternoon, Most likely, I wouldn’t be able to wait for kids to arrive from school A, while at the same time picking up kids from school B.
I cannot make appropriate transportation arrangements, or arrange my work schedule not knowing school A busing details.
At this point in time, there are no slots left on the private minibus that goes to school B, and absolutely no carpools that I could join to reduce the costs.
Arranging reliable transportation would cost me approximately 7,200 for the year for everyone or 5,400 for school B kids.
With projected aid in lieu to be a mere 2,000 vs 5,000 (as I expected it to be before getting township notice), it creates a deficit of 3,400-5,200 and could be considered a financial hardship.
Could someone advise me what to do?
Most people realize that moving to Jackson is a tradeof. Housing is a little cheaper ,but you get no basement rental. Your lot and backyard is bigger , but you have issues with school transportation . A little less taxes ,but no shuls or schools in your vicinity .little Smaller mortgage but in most cases ,smaller and older house . Everything in life is a tradeoff.
Another issue I have is that the bus home was not given an estimated time of arrival. Being as this stop is 1.5 miles from my house, how do I know when to wait for them? Even an estimated time??
1.5 miles. That’s curtesy busing. Public school in Lakewood gets no busing for under 2 miles. Don’t complain.
No, Doris, courtesy busing is when the school is within 2 miles of your house. What Shira is saying (and is the case for many of us in Jackson) is that the bus stop is 1.5 miles from her house, not the school.
I guess we can appreciate that it’s not further than that, but I don’t see the point in driving 5 minutes to wait in the car until my son’s bus comes, when he then has to ride the bus to school… It seems simpler to drive my son directly to school, especially since the bus stop we were given is 1.8 miles deeper into Jackson and further from the school.
While I am not sure this is intended, this has the feel of nasty trick, where we dropped our alternate plans in anticipation of the busing, but then getting these letters now where it’s just not a realistic busing plan.
Read the comment…. her stop is 1.5 miles away!!
Doris Borup.
Thats highly not true. I see all the time kids getting busing for a school down the road.
Busing in lakewood is horrible. 1 child per stop all over the place. Then parents crying they need house stops.
I don’t think it was a nasty trick, probably just someone who was really desperate to come up with a solution to the budget shortfall in a quick way.
To the Jackson BOE ,
Here’s what’s going to happen .
Most people will be pretty upset and will not drive their children 2-4 miles AWAY from their child’s school. They will end up having to pay out of pocket and be pretty upset at this waste of taxpayer money , which could easily have been solved , by creating a decent bus stop .
And for all the trolls , who are watching with GLEE , all excited, listen up. WE are taxpayers. we pay taxes like everyone else. We don’t take our 16,500.00 spots per child in the public schools, at the very least , we should be able to get normal transportation for our children.
WE PAY FOR IT!
It appears Jackson is following non-public transportation guidelines as defined by the NJ Dept of Education. There are no tricks or “quick solution to any budget shortfall”. Educate yourself before making wrong incorrect statements. You can read the statute on the NJ Board of Education website under the category of transportation. Jackson can’t make up their own rules. They have to follow the NJ Dept. of Education statute.
Was a mistake and not thought out. How can you have 5 year old walk 2 miles across highways???
We pay thousands of dollars in taxes, with ZERO in return ( we pay for garbage pick up!) give us the Aid in Lieu and we’ll arange our own means of transportation. This was a worthless attempt to satisfy the state requirements.
Jackson Resident
@michael Inzelbuch- please look into this.
Doris, it’s the same for Private school bussing. Under 2 miles don’t get it and the ones that do, pay for it. I love it when public school parents try to come up with reasons that they have it harder than private school parents. Did you know that what you get for free costs private school parents a minimum of $5000 a year? Yes it’s our choice but what happened to freedom of religion? How can I send my child to a school that teaches things that are apposed to my religion?!? There is no acceptable reason why private school is not paid for by the gvrnmnt with vouchers. The only reason is power and control. Some states have it already so it obviously can be done if the state wants to. I’m not complaining, just know what you’re talking about before opening your mouth!
I personally have met with Susan on a different issue last year. I found her to be genuine and reasonable. She’s doing her best to bus ALL Jackson kids to their schools in the most efficient manner.
I’m sure that all these issues will be resolved in time and people can probably expect for the public school stops near them to be activated in the future. So let’s be a little patient and friendly about resolving our individual needs. The LSTA got it right after some time, and let’s hope Jackson will do the same.
My assigned stop is well over a mile from my house. I didn’t get a letter prior to receiving my bus card today and had already made arrangement for my children’s transportation. This was based on the assumption I would get aid in Lieu to cover the costs. Now what?!
I’ve been told im ineligible for bussing or aid-in-lieu as my son was born after oct 1. I received nothing from the township about not being eligible. I am now stuck paying $1000 out of pocket for the LSTA bussing i opted into earlier this year. I would rather drive myself but They are refusing to cancel as they already paid for my seat. Anyone have an eitza for me?
If your son was going to public school he would not be allowed to start because he was born after Oct. 1st. He would be too young. So why would you get busing if he is not of age to start public school? Maybe in the private school they start them sooner but that does not meet the requirement to get public busing assistance.
My stop is over a 1.5 miles away. I need to drive there and wait for the bus. Would be shorter to drive the other 1.3 miles myself to school. So dumb, makes no sense. The stop is only 4 minutes away from the school. It’s utterly useless.
Trying to make sense, for myself.
Obviously, a stop 1.5 miles, or 30 min walk from home is too far.
What is generally considered a reasonable maximum distance for a bus stop?
This is the Jackson Townships way of saving money. Make stops unreasonable so nobody uses it than don’t have to give the cash .
1st of all, he actually would be allowed to attend public school if he was deemed sufficiently ready (see N.J.S.A. 18A:44-2), and therefore be eligible for bussing (N.J.S.A. 6A:27-2.2(d)).
2nd, I know they are not REQUIRED to accept my son (as per the statute) and therefore not REQUIRED to bus him (it’s already been litigated in teaneck- I forgot the exact case law); I was mainly asking for an idea how to deal with the LSTA