The Mayor of Maplewood and the South Orange Village President are asking that the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education present town leaders with information related to restoring “courtesy busing” routes, and expressed an interest to “collaborate closely on this issue” to potentially raise funds through tax levies to cover the costs.
Both town leaders concede that there is not time to restore courtesy busing by the start of the 2022-23 school year — but held out hope for a potential mid-year restoration.
Courtesy busing refers to transportation for students who live more than one mile but less than two miles from their elementary or middle school and has been used largely in the Marshall-Bolden pairing and for families opting in to Seth Boyden. The BOE voted in April 2021 to eliminate courtesy busing as of the 2022-23 school year as it planned for the next phase of the Intentional Integration Initiative.
However, the BOE recently received considerable pushback from local families who complained that a decision by the Board of Education in April 2021 was not communicated clearly or fully to parents until early July 2022.
Although the Board of Ed promised to look into restoring courtesy busing after the pushback, BOE President Thair Joshua announced on August 1 that there wasn’t time or the resources to restore courtesy busing services for the start of the 2022-23 school year.
Joshua noted that he “spoke to the Mayor of Maplewood and the Village President of South Orange to advise them that there would not be any additional transportation outside of district’s current policy for the foreseeable future of the 22-23 school year. They are working with the district and local police to mitigate potential traffic impacts around town and, in particular, near the effected school communities.”
Related: South Orange-Maplewood Board of Ed Approves Final 2022-23 Budget; Transportation to Be Fully Outsourced, April 29, 2022
While the Board of Education creates and approves the school district policy and its annual budget, municipal leaders do exercise some control over the school district through the Board of School Estimate, which approves the tax levy imposed by the school district budget. The BSE includes three appointees from each town’s governing body, plus two members of the Board of Education. Town leaders also collaborate in a less formal manner through the BOE’s municipal partnerships committee.
Reached for comment on Joshua’s August 1 statement, Collum relayed (see full statement below) that there was an appetite on the BSE to discuss raising the funds to support busing.
“I conveyed to President Joshua (and Mayor Dafis concurred) that we would like to receive the information related to distance and financial implications and that if need be, the Board of School Estimate would gladly join our partners on the BOE to discuss their recommendation and any approval of funding that may be necessary beyond their tax levy cap. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate closely on this issue and I know my colleagues in South Orange feel the same way.”
Collum tied the restoration — and even expansion — of school busing options to the success of the integration plan: “Speaking only for myself, I believe that transportation is directly connected to the success of the [Intentional Integration Initiative] and even beyond that, having a robust transportation network that provides more to all families makes our district more desirable while providing stability and predictability to our housing market in all of our neighborhoods in both towns.” Collum expressed an interest in doubling the number of students eligible for transportation: “[T]he Board of School Estimate can then work together to determine whether the financial investment is something we would approve. At a bare minimum, it’s certainly worth the conversation.”
Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis said that “ongoing conversations with the BOE … have been positive and fruitful in making the case and laying the foundation for an expanded transportation policy” and that he and Collum were “hopeful about January 2023 and our aligning with neighboring integrated school districts using a 1 mile radius for elementary and middle schoolers.” See Dafis’s full statement below.
South Orange Village President Sheena Collum’s full statement:
“I appreciate and value the open communication we have had with BOE President Joshua and understand the various financial and logistical problems that make any expanded transportation service, beyond what the BOE authorized, unfeasible for the start of the school year. Our respective Police Chiefs are following up on mitigation strategies in anticipation of some additional traffic at the impacted schools and continue to work with the Superintendent and School Business Administrator.”“While the Board of Education has ultimate authority over transportation policy, this particular issue overlaps with various municipal operations including but not limited to the safety of our students who will walk, the traffic impact during peak hours, the staffing and availability of crossing guards, the impact on working families, and most importantly, every elected official in our two towns have a vested interest in the success of the Intentional Integration Plan. This is very important and exciting work. With that said, I conveyed to President Joshua (and Mayor Dafis concurred) that we would like to receive the information related to distance and financial implications and that if need be, the Board of School Estimate would gladly join our partners on the BOE to discuss their recommendation and any approval of funding that may be necessary beyond their tax levy cap. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate closely on this issue and I know my colleagues in South Orange feel the same way.”“Speaking only for myself, I believe that transportation is directly connected to the success of the IIP and even beyond that, having a robust transportation network that provides more to all families makes our district more desirable while providing stability and predictability to our housing market in all of our neighborhoods in both towns. Without knowing all details but having a general understanding of current in-district transportation costs and numbers of students impacted, I would personally be most interested in 1 mile as opposed to 2. This will almost double the students eligible for transportation and the Board of School Estimate can then work together to determine whether the financial investment is something we would approve. At a bare minimum, it’s certainly worth the conversation.”
Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis’s full statement:
“While we’re disappointed that the existing transportation policy could not be revised just a few short weeks from the start of the school year, our ongoing conversations with the BOE about this critical matter which heavily impacts all of us have been positive and fruitful in making the case and laying the foundation for an expanded transportation policy.
“Financial implications and travel routes of a 1, 1.5, or 1.75 radius are being looked at by the BOE and District Administration now and we’re prepared to engage with them in those decisions through the Board of School Estimate if need be and/or via our existing municipal partnership committee. The success of our hard-fought integration largely depends on a transportation policy that is inclusive, reasonable, practical, and safe.
“Our public safety officials and traffic consultants are following up on necessary next steps to mitigate the traffic, drop-off/pickup and safe crossing concerns at the two impacted schools by the current policy in Maplewood, namely Seth Boyden where we have existing challenges and Delia Bolden Elementary. We’re hopeful about January 2023 and our aligning with neighboring integrated school districts using a 1 mile radius for elementary and middle schoolers.”
