ROBBINSVILLE: Subscription busing no go

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
   School officials recommended not offering subscription busing at this time and exploring other options during the board meeting on June 24.
   The topic of providing courtesy busing to students who are not currently eligible for free transportation arose again during the meeting.
   ”Unfortunately, the bids came back very high for that route,” said board liaison Thomas Halm.
   The bids came in between $37,000 and $39,000.
   ”This would’ve meant that the individual parents would’ve been paying about $1,200 a kid,” he said. “As a result, the FFT (Finance, Facilities and Transportation) Committee made a recommendation to send a letter to those parents indicating that because of the exorbitant amount of costs of the service we will not be offering it at this time.”
   The board originally estimated a cost of about $300 to $450 per student, according to a letter it had sent out in March.
   Mr. Halm said the FFT Committee looked into subscription busing from Town Center to Pond Road Middle School during its meeting on June 18.
   ”There had been some interest expressed by residents at Town Center specifically to having subscription busing services to the middle school,” he said.
   According to the letter dated March 21, the board was exploring the possibility of instituting a subscription-busing plan for Pond Road Middle School students residing in Town Center and Foxmoor.
   According to state law, school districts are required to provide transportation to elementary students living beyond two miles from school. As such, students living within a two-mile radius are not entitled to district-sponsored transportation, and districts do not receive state aid for students bused within these boundaries.
   Around 60 parents were interested in the subscription busing, he said.
   ”We are continuing to look into other areas that kids would be able to walk to school that are currently bused and we are looking forward to the police department’s grant to pay for sidewalks near some of those roads to encouraging walking,” he said.
   The board also discussed the regular school bus bids, which came back with the approved budget.
   ”We are getting GPS systems on buses awarded by GST for the June agenda,” he said.He noted the goal over the next year is to get “100 percent of the buses with GPS (systems) on board.”