Osborne presses on in courtesy busing fight

Osborne presses on
in courtesy busing fight
Lakewood board
believes busing
system works
BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer

Two years ago, Lakewood advocates dedicated to the reform of the school district’s busing policy used theatrics, statistics and rhetoric to make their point. One of their members also filed a petition that is currently before the state’s appellate court division.

"I seek a court order to stop the use of taxpayer funds to finance discriminatory and segregated courtesy busing policies that in effect advance religion," said George Osborne, who was the only member of now-defunct CAPS (Coalition of Advocates for Public School students) to sign the petition.

"I contend that the courtesy busing policies violate the New Jersey law against discrimination, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which stipulates the separation of church and state, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Those are the legal basis for this petition."

Despite Osborne’s position that his petition will ultimately save taxpayers money, the lawsuit he filed has already cost the district $20,108.13 as of May 28, according to information provided to the Tri-Town News under the state’s Open Public Records Act.

The majority of the expenses incurred were to pay for legal work performed by Lakewood Board of Education Attorney Michael Inzelbuch.

Inzelbuch has so far defeated all legal arguments put forth by Osborne to overturn the district’s busing policy.

Osborne’s challenge to Lakewood’s busing policy is based on the district’s provision of gender-segregated busing to Orthodox Jewish children who attend private religious schools. He maintains that in addition to making twice the number of bus trips in order to bus girls and boys to school separately, as dictated by Jewish law, the district is further compounding the cost of the service by transport­ing the same children to school at distances shorter than those rec­ommended by the state.

District administrators have said they provide the busing in order to ensure the safety of the children, but Osborne insists that goal — safety — is the responsibility of the Township Committee.

In spite of his training as a par­alegal, the assistance of several former CAPS members in assem­bling legal paperwork and his al­legation that Inzelbuch failed to file a motion of summary judgment to dismiss the case before a judge ruled on it, Osborne did not con­vince New Jersey Commissioner of Education William L. Librera to decide in favor of his petition. If Osborne fails in his bid to have an appellate court judge rule in his favor or refer the matter to another hearing before the Office of Administrative Law, he could still appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The legal cost to defend the suit will continue to climb as Board of Education members and district administrators fight to do what they also believe is right.

"His lawsuit is diverting funds he claims should go to public school students education," said board member Chet Galdo. "It costs money to litigate and our budget [was reduced this year]."

Osborne is steadfast in his belief that his agenda is worth fighting for, no matter what the cost.

"It’s a long haul, but it’s worth the effort because we need to save as much money as possible in the Lakewood School District and courtesy busing is using up millions and millions of dollars — $3 million to $5 million — a year," he said.

The $95 million school budget that voters defeated in April by a 10-1 majority would have funded the transportation line item at $9.9 million in the 2004-05 school year. But even with transportation bud­geted at that amount, former board member Donald Berkman warned the panel that they had underesti­mated its eventual cost.

"I foresee disaster down the road," he told the board in March. "There are three new [developments] on Route 9 alone. That’s 2,000 [more] children. Let’s be realistic about this — this budget is grossly underfunded."

School district Business Administrator Kathryn Fuoto told Berkman the board was attempting to conservatively fund the trans­portation line item.

The Township Committee re­duced the transportation line item by $522,098 after voters defeated the budget on April 20. When asked where cuts would be made, both Charles Cunliffe, the committee’s liaison to the board, as well as Superintendent of Schools Ernest Cannava said no decision had been made. A memorandum of agree­ment, which board members voted to accept on April 26, binds the dis­trict from moving funds between line items without approval from the committee and representatives of the state Department of Education.

With the stakes so high, Osborne asserts that he is justified in chal­lenging the district’s courtesy bus­ing policy. Ironically, he was also a member of the board when it re­defined distances for courtesy bus­ing, although he said he did not vote for the change.

Osborne said his next move would be to submit briefs to the appellate court division by July 17. The board must respond within 30 days, he said. Osborne then will have the option of responding within 10 days of the board’s re­sponse. The appellate court will examine both sides’ legal argu­ments before making a decision — about four months at the earliest, he said. Osborne estimated that a decision would not be made before the fall at earliest and more likely by the winter.

Although James Waters, presi­dent of the Lakewood/Ocean branch of the NAACP, said he did not sign the petition due to con­straints placed on him by the orga­nization’s national office, it is pos­sible that legal assistance will be provided to Osborne in the future.

"After George exhausts all the things at the state level, then the next step is to get the national NAACP involved in it," Waters said recently. "Throughout all of this, I’ve tried to keep national advised. You first see if there is a violation of a law. Then you look at whether there is a policy it can be chal­lenged on. Then you challenge it in the courts, knowing that policy is very lengthy. You have to go through all the legal remedy situa­tions."

Both sides are girding themselves for the continuing legal battle, ac­cording to Galdo. He said the board is prepared to defend its busing policy.

"We proved in a court of law that what we are doing is within the law," he said. "The state man­dated an efficient school system" and that is what the district pro­vided.