The following is an ‘Ask The Mayor’ question submitted to TLS, and the Mayor’s response. Email your questions for the Mayor to [email protected].
Question:
Dear Mayor Coles,
Just wondering how Lakewood can provide so many buses to private schools? Many towns, cities only give the private schools so many buses, so many days, so many stops. It is then up to the private schools to figure out what they can do…within their budget, tuition fees, and within what parents can organize.
Thank you for answering this question,
Claudia Mcn
Response from Mayor Coles:
Good morning Claudia,
All busing in town is based on state law, not any local decision . All students who live a certain distance from the school they attend are entitled to receive transportation or aid in lieu to ensure they arrive safely. I believe the state allows payment for 180 days of transportation a year. Any amount over that is not paid by the school district. The buses you see coming & going during the summer are all paid for by the school, camp & parents to which they are assigned. Bus stops are designed by a program which takes into account the safety of the area around the designated stop, the number of children and the distance and time it would take to get to the school. I recently spoke with the head of the LSTA, which is responsible for all Private School Bussing. He tells me they average 47 students per bus per run.
Thanks for reaching out.
Ray
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Have a question for the Mayor? Send it to [email protected]
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Busing?
Both bussing and busing are correct English spellings, though the AP Stylebook now recommends only using “busing” for transportation vehicles.
@Yishai, if you’re questioning the spelling, it’s fine.
What I find ironic is the fact that the questioner can’t seem to compose a literate sentence. Either they are illegal or the public school education did not do much for them.
It’s also funny how the questioner is wondering how the private schools get busing on the assumption that it’s on the townships dime, while the private schools parent body probably accounts for over 90% of the townships paid taxes.
To me, it seems there is more to Claudia’s question than just busing. Correct me if I’m way off base, but this seems more like a backhanded attack more commonly found on other sites.
TLS – censuring factual corrections to inaccuracies in the Mayor’s answer is a disservice to the community.