As first reported by TLS last week, many children in Lakewood are still without busing due to routes that were not yet picked up.
The children will remain without a bus seat until the new routes are bid on, which is expected to happen when the process reopens on September 17.
The BOE says, “students who have not received a bus seat due to a route that has not been bid on by a bus contractor will receive a “Still Waiting” post card stating that the next bid opening is on September 17, 2015, and that the district is hoping to having your child assigned to a bus seat then.”
The Lakewood School District currently has 57 routes that bus companies have not bid on; effecting approximately 36 nonpublic schools.
The BOE states further, that “the bidding process this past summer was held up by the impasse over courtesy busing costs, as a deal was not reached until August 5, 2015, in which all nonpublic schools agreed to tier their school schedules. All schools were mandated to create schedules within the confines of the agreed upon plan, which unfortunately took another week off the calendar.”
“The Lakewood School District’s Transportation Consultant, Transportation Manager and entire transportation team has been working endless hours to create bids, routes and bus passes for approximately 30,000 students in a period of three short weeks. Bids were open on August 25th, 26th, 27th 28th and September 1st & 2nd.”
The next sets of bids are set to be open on September 17, 2015, as the district must advertise bids for ten days, which is mandated by law.
All schools that have routes that have not been bid on have been notified.
“The Transportation Department will continue to make every attempt to place as many students as possible on a bus, and will not rest until everything humanly possible has been done to see that every eligible student receives a bus seat before receiving aid-in-lieu.”
[TLS]
Sept. 17!?! What a joke! There might as well not be busing.
How much is this post card costing is it in the budget? Is it approved by the state monitor?
Can a parent get monetary compensation for all the days that the boe does not supply mandated bussing?
Keep doing what you do best.
Being incompetent
“will not rest” Sounds like they are resting until the 17th.
For goodness sakes. It’s a pain in the neck but is it really worth no busses to you? Don’t be ridiculous!
Why did I get a bus card? I got a card with my stops, yet now I find out that there is no route for my kids.
I want to thank all the people that have tried so hard to accommodate us Gus worked endless hours and then was not well so that is what made it so difficult. I hope he’s feeling better. As to compensation for your own transportation, you are most definitly entitled to reimbursement
So let me figure it out. They needed 10 days to notify the public for bids. OK that’s the aw.
But why wait to Sept 7th so send out the bids. Did they just find out now that no one bid on the route?
Weren’t routes assigned 2 weeks ago?
Something stinks.
Not sure where to point a finger. But my finger is pointing around the room.
Hello why can’t we but now? Why the wait just to bid?
I don’t know how these things work, and I am sure endless hours go into it.I wouldn’t begin to place blame, especially because so much of what went on was beyond the control of those in charge of the routes and stuff. I can understand that having a few buses without routes could happen and is a temporary frustration for all involved. What I am having a hard time wrapping my head around is those poor parents and kids waiting and waiting for the bus to show up because they were never notified there was no bus for their route. And the school office had no answers because they weren’t either notified. It wouldn’t be half as bad if those parents knew before the school year started that they would have to carpool those first few weeks…
s how can we get the $$?
This is same old story every year the BOE doesn’t care about parents life and kids too. They themselves are not educated well enough. They keep putting every child into pains. They don’t know the law no child left behind acts. The BOE need to change their policy so all Lakewood school too.
If this would be a private company they would be out of business.
Don’t send bus cards telling parents to wait an endless hour in the morning when there is no bus going to show.
This shows a complete lack of respect to the tax paying citizens of this town
Baruch Jeremias should be elected to run the BOE, he is the Donald Trump of Lakewood!!
How about kids that didn’t get bus cards at all? When will they get bus routes?