Resident Bob Giangrasso: "We’re expecting quite a turnout of people. We’ve distributed 700 flyers."
By John Tredrea
Parents of school children who live on the four courtesy bus routes that were eliminated for 2005-2006 in the school district budget adopted March 22 have scheduled a meeting tonight to protest the elimination of the routes and seek their reinstatement.
"It’s a protest meeting," said Brandon Farms resident Bob Giangrasso, one of the parents affected by the issue and an organizer of the meeting.
"We’re expecting quite a turnout of people. We’ve distributed 700 flyers," Mr. Giangrasso said Tuesday afternoon.
The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Brandon Farms Property Owners Association (BFPOA) building, at the intersection of Denow Road and Brandon Road West.
The school district will be represented at the meeting, school officials said.
"We want to bring as much pressure to bear on the school district as possible to put the routes back in the budget," said Mr. Giancrosso, who was one of many residents to oppose eliminating the courtesy bus routes during the March 22 public hearing on the $63 million budget.
Cutting the routes will save $100,000, school officials said. Many other cuts, including teacher layoffs, were made to get the budget in compliance with the state budget cap law.
Acting Superintendent Judy Ferguson said Tuesday afternoon that the district could conceivably reallocate funds in the budget to pay for some courtesy busing. She said a reallocation of funds would have to be approved by the county superintendent of schools. The district also is examining all of its bus routes to see if they can be made more cost-effective to an extent that could save one or more of the routes, the superintendent added.
The residents who opposed eliminating the courtesy bus routes say it would be unsafe for the affected children to walk to school and that there would be hazardous congestion at the school if all affected parents drove their children.
Three of the four courtesy routes that were eliminated are for Brandon Farms children who attend Stony Brook Elementary. The fourth is for the Penn View Heights development, from which children attend Toll Gate Grammar School. Penn View is in Hopewell Township, along the Pennington border.

