Valley school board forms courtesy busing group

Ad hoc committee will look more closely at four eliminated bus routes.

By John Tredrea
   The Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education has formed an ad hoc committee that will include police officials to study the board’s controversial decision to eliminate four courtesy busing routes in the budget that went before the voters Tuesday.
   Three of the four routes currently slated to be eliminated in September are in the Brandon Farms area, where students in grades K-five go to Stony Brook Elementary. The fourth route is for K-five students in the Penn View Heights neighborhood, in Hopewell Township just north of Pennington. K-five students in Penn View attend Toll Gate Grammar School.
   Top school officials, including Acting Superintendent Judy Ferguson and Assistant Superintendent John Bach, have left open the possibility that the four routes could be restored. They have added, however, that if the routes are restored, the budget will have to be cut elsewhere in order to keep it under the state’s budget cap limit.
   Before the board’s final adoption vote on the budget on March 22, several teachers and other staff members were laid off and some programs cut in order to get the budget under cap. Virtually every cut encountered stiff opposition from the public and staff during public hearings on the budget. The elimination of the courtesy bus routes, in particular, drew much vehement protest from parents of affected children.
   By no later than June 30, the ad hoc committee on courtesy busing created by the board Monday night is to assess the walking conditions for students who live within the 2-mile transportation eligibility limit of Stony Brook Elementary and Toll Gate Grammar School, specifically the Brandon Farms and Penn View Heights areas, to determine if these students have safe walking access to school.
   At a recent meeting with parents upset over the elimination of the routes, Mr. Bach pledged the district would not require students to walk unsafe routes to school. Under state law, the district is not required to provide busing to elementary students who live within 2 miles of school or secondary students who live within 2½ miles of school.
   The ad hoc committee will include Capt. George Meyer of the Hopewell Township Police, Pennington Public Safety Director William Meytrott, school board members, school district Transportation Director Nancy Dolan, Acting Superintendent Ferguson, school district Business Administrator John Nemeth, Stony Brook Assistant Principal Steve Wilfing, Toll Gate parent Nina Qvale and Stony Brook parent Nina Shevlin.
   The school board’s charge to the ad hoc committee, published in Monday’s agenda booklet, states that the committee is "to first establish the criteria and definition for safe access and then advise the board on the following: the need and locations for crossing guards; the availability of sidewalks and bike paths; any personal safety concerns including but not limited to visibility, housing density, traffic volume and vehicular speed; and the impact of additional parent vehicles on traffic and safety of children at the school site."
   The last item addresses the issue of parents driving their children to school if the bus routes are eliminated. Many parents vowed to do just that at recent public meetings with school officials.
   The ad hoc committee also is to make long-term recommendations after evaluating all school sites and walking conditions for all students in the district who live within the 2- and 2½-mile limits for elementary and secondary students, respectively.