The Howell Board of Education has voted moments ago to approve a resolution allowing them to enter into an agreement with the Lakewood Students Transportation Authority (LSTA) for the 2025-2026 school year, allowing the consortium to potentially transport hundreds of children to schools in Lakewood.
Under state law, all school districts in the state must provide transportation to public and nonpublic school students elementary school students (grades K-8) who live more than two miles from their school and all secondary school students (grades 9-12) who live more than two-and-a-half miles from their school are entitled to transportation.
However, if the busing costs exceed the state threshold, than school districts are forbidden from providing transportation, and must provide parents with the aid-in-lieu amount instead – which was the reality for the vast majority of Toms River children attending school in Lakewood.
But under a new law recently signed by Governor Phil Murphy following nearly a decade of advocacy by Agudath Israel of America’s New Jersey Office, Lakewood Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein and others, the LSTA, which has managed the busing in Lakewood for the past eight years, is no longer limited to Lakewood, and is now allowed to operate statewide.
Following the signing of the law, the Jackson Township Board of Education became the first district to partner with the LSTA, followed by the Toms River Board of Education several months later.
Tonight’s vote is notable as it is the first district outside of Ocean County to enter into such an agreement.
Currently, the state provides $1,177 per eligible student as Aid in Lieu (AIL) and districts are prohibited from paying more than that amount. But when bused by a private consortium such as the LSTA, parents have the option of “opting in” and paying more to effectively subsidize the cost of the route if they choose.
“As envisioned, the busing bill will have far-reaching implications for school children around the state,” Shlomo Schorr, Director of Legislative Affairs for Agudath Israel of America’s New Jersey Office, said in a statement. “We look forward to hearing of similar agreements with districts around the state.”
“Assemblyman Avi Schnall (D-30) has been working tirelessly on this issue for nearly eight years, and we are extremely grateful for his advocacy on this issue as well as , as well as the sponsors of the bill, Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-6), and Senators Vin Gopal (D-11) and Bob Singer (R-30),” Schorr added.
So now LSTA will be providing bussing to even more children than they are currently. Why??? They can’t handle the load they have now why be greedy and take on more??? The children are on the busses for way too long and are being picked up way too early. Which part of this makes any sense???? Maybe if LSTA finds other vendors besides Jay’s who obviously can’t handle the load, to take on some of the current and future routes then maybe it could work. I said maybe!!!
I wonder if they will put kids on the South Side of Lakewood on the same busses as the Howell kids (only partial sarcasm). Some of these routes make no sense putting kids on the opposite sides of town on the same route or just a circuitous route when it doesn’t have to be. There are better routes but LSTA doesn’t want to hear it. They need someone to take a better look at their routes and it should be their full time job.
There are kids getting home after 6:15pm (dismissal before 5) where they wouldn’t have to with better routes, but again… LSTA doesn’t want to hear it.
My kids are on the bus for close to two hours! 1st graders getting home close to 6pm! Stops literally from one side of Lakewood to another – because as we’ve been told there are not enough kids in Lakewood to fill a full bus… Time to combine schools from various neighborhoods to fill a bus that goes from one location to another without traversing the entire Lakewood.
This is not good news for Lakewood parents! My kids’ route (Lakewood school) did not get picked up for bussing. We were forced to spend over $3,000 PER KID for private transportation. Lakewood families are getting short changed while the surrounding towns’ children are getting picked up. How is that okay ???
Change the name from LSTA to non-Lakewood STA.
Who can advocate for Lakewood residents sending to Lakewood schools?
BH!!
Thank you R’ Avi Schnall and all those involved. This will hopefully ease a significant burden that has been hurting my family and neighbors for while.
Also hoping the LSTA doesn’t take advantage of us and charge us an arm and a leg for the “out of town” route. It’s a bit ridiculous how much they get away with. Many bus routes in Lakewood are still not stable, 3 months into the school year.
When he said free tuition he prob meant free disaster bussing for everybody…
Definitely pulling through on that…
It’s not free
If your routes get picked up it is free
If not and they give you private its not
It’s time the Lakewood schools got their own busses. Or maybe Avi Schnall can get the actual busses funded directly to the schools. Yes busses are expensive. However, this is the only solution that actually helps passed the announcement day. All the Mosdos in Brooklyn that have their own busses, almost never have bussing issues.
Routes should be set up by neighborhood, not by school.
I live in Howell and there are only 1-2 other families in my area that send to my kids’ schools.
Would be great if there could be a strictly Howell bus that goes to Vassar/Swarthmore area schools, then another that goes to Cross area, etc.
Is this like the TR buses where you are forced to take LSTA. So even if the bus stop is a mile from your house and child is on the bus for 2 hours you are forced. You can’t just take the $1200 per child and drive kids yourself, it goes to LSTA whether you like it or not. Here is an idea that could work. Why not make one bus for all children on Oak Street? Why do all children need to be in the same school?
To the commenters that are saying to have bussing combined for multiple schools, that would turn into a disaster. No bus monitors is already pretty bad. I wouldn’t want my kids on the bus with some bullies from another school with no one to speak to about it being under control. At least the schools take some responsibility now.
My son’s school has private transportation and never had a single issue! Let’s go Lakewood