[LETTER] “We ask all parents to cooperate with us by not using bus transportation the morning of Wednesday, June 11th and Thursday, June 12th,” a letter being sent home today to all parents with children in Lakewood’s Mosdos reads. The letter, obtained by TLS, clearly describes the reason for the drill, and the importance of it.
Parents with children in all of Lakewood’s Mosdos are being strongly urged to participate in the upcoming carpooling drill, which Askonim and Roshei Yeshivah are strongly supporting.
As it stands, the current BOE budget does not cover transportation for students grade 4-8 if they live within a 2 mile radius and grades 9-12, if they live within a 2 ½ mile radius. “In addition, even the courtesy busing afforded to students K-3, we are told, will have very large runs and therefore will have some children on the bus from 90-120 minutes- something which is not a solution in our opinion,” the letter reads. “Our askanim have put a great deal of effort to come up with solutions to solve this dilemma.”
Through numerous meetings that took place the past 2 weeks, an idea was formulated to have the drill which will have all parents send their children to school without BOE transportation whereby simulating what a morning would look like without any bus transportation. The goal of the drill is to prepare parents, students, township and emergency personnel on what a typical day without transportation would look like.
“A letter was delivered to the Lakewood Township, giving them ample time to mobilize their resources to facilitate a best case scenario under the circumstances. The planned drill has the approval of the Rosh Yeshiva R Malkiel and Gedolei Roshei Hayeshiva of America Shlit”a.”
“Therefore, we ask all parents to cooperate with us by not using bus transportation the morning of Wednesday, June 11th and Thursday, June 12th. The drill does not include yours transportation home from school. We recognize the inconvenience that this will cause, however without bus transportation this will be the norm unless a better solution is found. There will be obvious delays because of the traffic, however we feel that the end will justify the means- and through our hishtadlus a more viable option will come from it.”
PLEASE NOTE:
** The drill is only taking place for the morning bus routes- Schools will start at
9:00am.
** All school employees will not be expected to be on time the morning of June 11th and
12th. In addition, BMG has notified us that it will cancel their shmiras sedarim for those
mornings as well.
**We also respectfully request all employers to allow some lee way in regards to their usual
starting time.
“To better understand why we are asking you to inconvenience yourselves for two days, please take a moment to read why the drill we are proposing is only to our benefit in the long run. The information disseminated here, is culled from our meetings with askanim and town officials over the past few weeks. It would not do justice to try and explain the complete budget process in this small letter; however it will give you a better understanding of why we are at this juncture today.
“The state formula for funding the BOE which includes mandated bussing (more than 2 miles for elementary school and more than 2.5 miles for high school) is carried by our property taxes”housing represents more taxable income. Even though more revenue is coming in, it still is not enough to cover our overall expenses because of our exponential growth each year. This is in addition to the low proportion of public vs. private school students. The state is aiding the case in disproportionate to the needs of the private schools such as bus transportation. If this trend continues, it would
seem to dictate that we will continue to fall into a deeper deficit whereby continuing to lose our services- even mandated busing!
“The proposed drill will be the reality for every school day next year unless a change is made now. The practice run also gives township workers the ability to make proper decisions when attending to the traffic and safety our community. If you might ask, there will be bussing for K-3, please realize that the routes are being consolidated and will have children on these buses from 90-120 minutes which we don’t feel is a feasible option.
“The only way to continue this momentum is to have the cooperation of all parents and not send their children on the bus this Wednesday and Thursday. Please don’t separate yourself from the tzibur by sending your child on the bus whereby weakening the effect of the drill. The drill will only be that, if it represents what a day would look like without bus transportation. The way for you to help, is by cooperating these two days and we hope that at least a short-term and ultimately a long-term solution will come as a result of our efforts.” [TLS]
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what about minyan and high school routes?
If we are making a concerted effort why don’t we carpool all our children to register in public school. Let it be known how little of OUR tax dollars are expended on our education needs!
Are the BOE busing going to be in operation?
Do kids who live more than 2.5 miles need to participate or since they will have busing next year, they aren’t in scope for the drill, since they won’t be carpooling next year?
This does not make any sense . What they say is that “this will be the norm without busing”
Why are they saying without busing? 17000 kids will have busing. 8100 will not. If you truly want to see what the norm would be like, the. Have the 8100 kids go by car and then you will truly see what the norm would be like.
Does this also affect the children at SCHI?
The norm would be to send our first grader? Or abstain from sending all kids?
Buses vs. busses
In 21st-century English, buses is the preferred plural of the noun bus. Busses appears occasionally, and dictionaries list it as a secondary spelling, but it’s been out of favor for over a century. This is true in all main varieties of English.
After bus emerged in the 19th century as an abbreviation of omnibus, buses and busses (the logical plural of buss, an early alternative spelling of bus) vied for dominance for several decades. By the early 20th century, though, buses was the clear winner, and it has steadily become more prevalent. Today, buses appears on the web about 15 times for every instance of busses.
This ngram graphs the use of buses, busses, and omnibuses in English-language books and magazines published between 1800 and 2000:
very smart idea, and well written letter…im sure it will cause a lot of inconveniences, but well worth the headache…
@tls moderator
Just move over all the comments from last week’s article. It’ll save everyone’s time 🙂
Who is this letter written by? Why is there no letterhead or signatures?
just like on Sunday there is private bussing and you pay for it so will be next year it would all be private bussing and you will pay for it!!
there would be no gridlock or yidlock or bridgegate.
we should all wait online at the public school to register.
so the state realizes the tremendous savings they incur with our hileige mosdos & not start squeezing us now on the little aid we do receive via bussing…
These schools might be shooting themselves in the foot. What happens when everyone brings their kids to school on these days and does not use the buses and there are no catastrophic traffic problems? All these cars eventually are on the road at the same time, going to work and going to BMG. You are basically just moving the peak traffic time thats all. If there are less buses next year, traffic will be the same as always. Might be even better because you don’t have as many buses stopping every 5 feet.
Why not try registering all our children in the Lakewood public school system?
primary to 3rd grade are going to have busing next year.
do we also have to drive our kids?
Yes, many will have bussing. However, these routes will be consolidated, with kids on the busses for 90-120 min. That’s not an option for many who’ll opt to take their own kids and not use bussing. That means more traffic. At the end of the day, there is going to be a lot of traffic and solution needs to be found. It’s not about who is responsible for what, but about dealing with the reality on the ground and finding a solution.
for those who will not be affected please note the routes will change and your children will be on 90-120 minute routes with possibility of multiple schools on the same bus. what a fiasco.
please take your own children to all their schools. do not carpool with neighbors…
Didn’t get this letter from my son’s school.
y 2 days
After reading all comments this should go on without any glitches !!
If we don’t stand up for ourselves who will? Some schools that own their buses will be stuck in congestion. This is a great opportunity to teach your kids how to protest in a passive way.
I am originally from out of town and there was no bus service. My parents had to shuttle me to and from school everyday. It was not easy but they did it for me. I remember what a wonderful bonding time it was! Let us try to make the best of it. Yes there will be traffic headaches and yes I have more then one child to send of b”h but let us try to stay positive.
While this is a good idea, I think there are other legal channels that the Askomin could use.
Just wondering why the letter is anonymous…
“now a lakewooder” You have a good point, but many families have children in many different schools on different sides of town. (i know a family with the boys in 3 different schools)
How does everybody here have the audacity to question the mechanchim of there own children? What type of message are you sending to your children? The rosh yeshiva in our city and most if not all mechanchim said to do something, is it really that hard to follow. Ya I know it’s inconvenient but do you look at succos peasach and shavous is inconvenient!!?? None of us were by any meetings. We don’t know what’s going on. Obviously the ones in charge are working hard to help us the parents the least we can do is follow there orders!! If you think you have a good idea call your rov or mechanach or go to bmg and speak to somebody. Bottom line is if we don’t get funding we the parents will be footing the bill, not the schools, so there doing us a favor, appreciate it!!
Reposted from Yid on a prior story-
CALM DOWN ~ CALM DOWN ~ CALM DOWN ~ CALM DOWN
People – get real!
Without getting involved in who’s right and who’s wrong, let’s face it: The Orthodox are NOT enrolling their kids in the public school system, and courtesy busing is on its last legs.
No, children will not be forced to walk home in the dark. Bus drivers will not lose their jobs. Nothing at all will change….. except, that instead of the BOE paying for busing, the schools will hire the buses privately and pass those costs on to the parents. In a nutshell: Tuition will go up about $800 per year per child, or $80 per month (based on a 10-month school year).
So everyone calm down. The sun will still shine every day, life will move on, and Lakewood will continue to be a wonderful town with the most insane drivers outside NYC.
why don’t you get it? This is Amreica.
EVERY single child deserves a right to an education
You are going to shoot yourselves in the foot . I heard the remergency services are ready for the gridlock event. the state police and county will be in town enforcing traffic laws with zero tolerance. So prepare for lots of tickets
Enough comments about registering in the public school. If you register, you child needs to attend. I highly doubt that will happen. People think the school district will beg the people to take busing as opposed to sending their kids to the public school. That simply will not happen. Nobody in the Jewish community is sending their kids to public school. Everyone knows that. You go ahead and register all you want. They will just call your bluff. People need to come up with real solutions, not empty threats. They are getting tiresome and are childish.
To be honest since all the hock from about 2010 all we have seen is the BOE slowly falling apart after all I guess we were wrong on voting for the people who convinced us they knew everything.
Busing of school children is one service that local school boards provide. There are other responsibilities as well :textbook purchases and loans ,excluding religious material, to private or parochial students, technology in the classroom,nursing and remedial services. Educating children is costly both public & private. There is no free ride for either.
Mr Bates, this foolish tactic that you make fun of has happened successfully in Monroe (I know im from there!) The fact is if 16,000 kids applied, forget the yearly costs, there would not be enough space to house them all. Max accommodation right now is 9,000 which means they will have to build another building which is out of the question.
@bob I could not agree more!! We were swindled into thinking change would be better! All I hear now is problems and more problems. Bring back the old regime!!
I have an appointment on Wednesday that was booked weeks ago… so my boys will be on the bus 🙂
the accidents R”L… Im dreading it. Hashem yishmor…
should i be driving all my kids on these days even the younger ones? I have 5 kids in 4 different school this is going to be lots of fun.
why are we doing it here in Lakewood it should be dun in Trenton by the capitol building ….
take 20 or 30 busses down to Trenton use different streets let busses open door close the door in middle of intersections and clog up Trenton for the day!!!
i get the whole point but cant we do just one day it literaly takes me an entire morning to carpool my kids to 3 diff schools all across town and that is besides for the playgroup children. also on a side note the township knows and we all know that we will be paying for private bussing next year the schools don’t even allow carpool on sunday so there will not be carpool they will have sunday bussing all year.
A few weeks ago, I realized that I have been paying $1000 a year for car insurance, and have not had a claim in five years!
So I called up geico and told them that since I had given them $5000 and not used the insurance, could they return 50% of that back to me. They laughed.
Everyone pays property taxes. Young people, old people, people with 10 children, people with no children, blind people, asian people, astronauts, deaf people, people with 9 fingers and 11 toes.
Those taxes come with the privlage of enrolling your children, should you have any, and should you desire, into a public school system. Should you waive that right, that is your right. You DO NOT however earn the right to demand other services that are not required by law simply because you paid into the system.
I know that sounds harsh, but that is the reality.
No one is enrolling their children in public schools. You are just as likely to enroll your children in public schools as you are to buy a hamburger at McDonalds to protest the price of kosher meat.
What you have to come to terms with is that the law does not require this bussing and you have no right to demand it.
Feel free to enroll 25,000 children into the public school system. The township, and the state will borrow from the federal government to hire enough teachers and procure enough facilities to handle them, and life will go on. Nothing will collapse. So even if you follow through with your idle threat, it will not result in any armageddon.
i think all this is pathetic just give us the stupid bus and thats it not only from a students point of veiw but from a parant as well. parants arent letting their 4th graders walk to svhool so they will have to drive then=m every morningwhich is a big pain in the neck now all the busdrivers will have no job.ever think of that?! just saying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michoel, you’re bringing this story which is an example of a failure.
Kiryas Joel was fighting to get male-only drivers, they lost in court, so they abandoned the buses and carpooled to school, the BOE said good riddance, and for the next 5 years they paid their own buses.
Do those who send their children to private schools in Lakewood pay taxes that go toward busing? If they do, then fine. But if they don’t, then why do they think they should get busing? Seems pretty cut and dry.
To Now a Lakewooder:
I have heard that argument many times and it holds no water. were you grew up didnt have 15,000 children going to school hence no traffic jams and only a slight inconvenience.
It goes without say that all adults and children should be wearing seatbelts while in the vehicles and NO adults should be texting or talking on the phone while driving. No need to turn this into a Chilul Hashem. Oh and did i say drive with courtesy?!
1. Who wrote this letter and why isn’t it signed?
The letter was written for all the mosdos to give to their parent body today (Monday, June 9th). If you did not get a letter, either your school didn’t give it out yet, or they don’t have a communication with the network of schools that have been kept up to date through Igud Hamosdos who have been active alongside our askanim and town officials in coming up with possible solutions to this bus issue. Lastly, there’s always the possibility that your school is skeptical to go along with this drill that will take place. However, most schools singed their names on these letters which were supposed to be hung up around town.
2. The drill is not a fair assessment of what will actually take place next year!
True, however the letter states that eventually our busing might be taken away and now is an opportunity to show what it will look like without any bussing. Also, even courtesy busing for grades K-3 will have very large routes which will have some children on bus for long periods of time.
3. Why don’t we just pay for busing and forget about this drill?
Absolutely correct! However does that preclude us from at least trying to get the attention of the state by running such as drill? Also, who will foot this bill? The school, the parents? As taxpayers and the amount that we save public school by not sending to public schools many feel that we should at least do our hishtadlus.
Correctly said Avi.
More so, today requires both spouses to bring in an income. This carpooling business will unjustly have many people coming late to their jobs.
Lastly, why are we forced to have double the amount of cars on the road if less than half the children would be effected? It is not emes to clog the streets with way more cars that would not be carpooling when the bussing stops.
A completed investigation is required by the state at this point. Lakewood cannot handle Lakewood anymore.
44- yes they do. thousands own homes with exorbitant property taxes and busing was one of the few services they received in return.
Good luck to our town, we need it
This is an inaccurate simulation. In reality 70 percent will still have budding. Approximately 8000 will not have bussing, 17500 will remain with bussing. Furthermore, on Wednesday and Thursday, parents are encouraged to individual bring their children to school. If the bussing is pulled, car pools will be formed with 5-7 kids in a car/van. So instead of 23000 cars on the road (on Wednesday and Thursday) there will be between 1200 and 1500 cars next year. Also, if bussing is pulled, many of the children who live relatively close to their schools will (perish the thought) walk.
FIRST OF ALL EVERYDAY IN LAKEWOOD IS GRIDLOCK , all the bus drivers want to do is there job everyday we fight people who don’t know how TO DRIVE OR ARE ON THE CELL PHONE OR THE BEST ONE IS THEY RUN THE BUS LIGHTS WHEN THEY ARE PICKING UP CHILDREN BUT DO THEY CARE NO… SAFETY IS NOT HIGH ON THE LIST AS LONG AS THEY GET TO WHERE THEY HAVE TO GO THEY COULD CARE LESS…. Learn how to drive first !!!!!!
I still dont get why they need 2 days for a driving drill – like, hello ?
this whole thing would make chris cristie proud
To: Litvok 613:
Excellent observation. However this is not about making a statement for today. Its about tomorrow, next year and the year after. If we continue along the path that were on, we might not have any busing soon!
TO Avi
you are right! When i went to school there were not as many children as there are now. Thank Hashem that Hitler was not successful and that the Jewish nation continues to grow. However there were plenty of children ages 3-13 whose parents had to drive them. I remember waiting for my parent to pick me up on numerous occasions and i could not find the car because so many parents were waiting to pick up their child/ren!
I hope the Lakewood police do their job and issue tickets for all those children riding without the proper car seats…..Get real people the town just can’t afford the busing situation anymore.If you want courtesy busing pay for it yourself…Remember its only a courtesy…
Larry, whose taxes pay for the public school bussing???
Are they not being bussed ala courtesy of my tax dollars!?!
there are 6 public schools and over 100 private schools- so do you have any idea of how many bus routes that is and all with different time schedules , no boys or girls together on the same bus. It is an impossible situation. every new neighborhood becomes a new route and new cost- it is literally impossible to keep up with the population and schools popping up all over the place. Plus the school budget does pay for more then just the transportation to private schools, Most of all of the special ed students in SCHI and other schools or being paid by the “public school budget” Parents need to do what they feel is best for them and not just follow a directive- we do live in a free society and no one should blindly listen to others without questioning their motives or scare tactics. thank you!! Bless all of you on the roads the next few days!! I surely hope you have someone at these schools directing all of the cars and children getting out of them so their are no horrible accidents of children being hit because the drivers are in a hurry!!
We should ask our Manhigim if it is a good idea that during the bus drill on Wed & Thur., that America flags be displayed on the Chadorim & Beis Yaakovs, cars, and held by students, to show our loyalty to our Government – Kovod Malchus, thus making a Kidush Hashem.
Vihameivin yovin;
Fellow Lakewooder
I grew up in Lakewood and still frequent Lakewood many times every week. As one mentioned earlier, Lakewood can’t handle Lakewood anymore. It’s completely out of control at this point.
Larry. , you know you’re really a mean person .
Granted everyone is required to obey the laws of the land, but many people are struggling and to wish tickets on them is downright cruel don’t just until u are in the other persons place
Private school pay for there own buses, I went to private school if my parents wanted me on a bus they pay for it . Stop using state money to fund private school!!
Larry:
Get real, Larry, the town can’t afford public school anymore! Who’s paying for the public schools, the parents of the many immigrant children who attend? Incidentally, I do believe they should be serviced by the public school system, but the State needs to get real and come up with a better formula.
Comparison (#41): Insurance is not a valid comparison for many reasons. One is because it’s by virtue of your good driving and Divine Providence (or “luck” if you prefer) that they didn’t need to pay out, yet you bought yourself peace of mind with the insurance premiums and you would have had coverage if necessary. The busing question is one of formula and reality on the ground. (See above response to Larry)
Is it true that the ocean county Sheriff’s office will be assisting Lakewood pd in ticketing for texting, safety seats, double parking and other traffic violations.
we already know what this looks like.when there is no busing on legal holidays Lakewood is a mess
There are other expenses that will come up if there is no bussing. As many kids will be walking, dangerous intersections will require crossing guards. Traffic lights will also need to be put up so that children have the right of way to cross the street safely. More police will be needed to ensure that the children who are walking stay safe. There will be a cost factor and it won’t be a complete gain for the township.
Speaking of safety, the state set an arbitrary limit of 2 miles for those who get bussing. Did they take the factors in our city into account? Certainly not.
I also want to say that as a homeowner whose children attend private school, I am frustrated that my tax dollars will be getting me nothing. Yes, this type of bussing is considered “courtesy”, i.e. not mandated by law, but I gain no other benefit for the thousands of my dollars that go into the BOE pocket each year. If we added up the tax dollars of homeowners whose children will not reap any benefit after “courtesy” bussing is cancelled, I’m sure that’s a nice portion of the BOE budget.
As frustrating as this issue is, I plan on going to the bus-stop with a note and coffee for my wonderful bus driver so she will know think this is nothing against her!
Yes people will be inconvenienced for 2 days and it may make them late for work. However if this is not done then next year you will have to give up either you or your wifes job as you will have to do this 2x daily for all your kids, as all your kids are within 2 miles of their school.
To hakoras hatov: On the note let the driver know that we are fighting to save her job. Then she’ll know that were not against her.
Al pi HaTorah asher yorucha
no comments
no immature & disrespectfull statements
Lo Sosor
Let me ask this question… How many “Years” in a row has the Lakewood School Budget been voted Down? Over 10 years in a row. Only this year was the vote overturned. Maybe as a township you all can stop voting the budget down and this would not have happened. Sure you’ll have to pay a lil bit more on your taxes but don’t sit here and say this is unfair. The Bus Rules Have been in place for decades in the public schools with living within a certain mileage of a school… what makes this any different for Private schools? Enough with the threats… If you have multiple kids and each one in different schools that is not the townships problem. The township BOE is dealing with an overused and drained situation.
Why should we put our children through this headache for no reason? How are they going to learn in school tomorrow? Let the parents do a mock carpool drill with no kids in the car and let the kids go to school by bus on time and learn
Just wondering if the bus drivers have to get up early to do their job and no one is planning on going on the bus. We daven L’man lo Nigah L’rik, is it fair to make the bus drivers work for nothing? Where is the hakaras hatov? Additionally our children still have a few more days after the “drill” of school you don’t want the bus drivers’ anger at the situation to be taken out on the children Chas V’Shalom.
Senior citizens pay for education of local schoolchildren and do not have one child in the system. They are not complaining. The real lesson here is that Lakewood must stop growing immediately. We cannot handle the increased traffic, school expense, infrastructure, public employees, etc caused by tremendous increases in our population. Your demonstration may just prove that development must be halted or we will choke with traffic even if we have courtesy busing.
I beg your pardon. Your statement of “Lakewood must stop its growth immediatly” is inherently a biased statement and boarders on bigotry.
How would you appreciate a commnent such as “the seniors should stop getting so old” ?
Then please stop asking people who choose to have children to stop growing.