Parents angered over transportation changes

A decision to provide more students who attend parochial and private schools with MTA MetroCards, to be used for public bus or subway transportation instead of a traditional school bus, has many parents upset with the Valley Stream Central High School District.

At the Aug. 28 Board of Education meeting, more than a dozen parents addressed the district administrators and board members, voicing their disapproval with the decision, which was driven by the district’s need to reduce transportation costs.

Sandra Aragona has two children who attend St. Raymond’s School in East Rockaway. Since her children are in fifth and eighth grade, she applied for transportation in both District 30 and the Central High School District. District 30 is providing private busing for her child in fifth grade, but her eighth-grader was given an MTA MetroCard.

“I think this is appalling, and my child’s safety and well-being is not being considered,” Aragona said. “My family’s school taxes are paid, plus tuition that I pay for private school. The least they can provide is private busing.”

School districts must provide transportation for students who attend non-public schools within a certain distance. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade are provided transportation if they live between 2 and 15 miles from their school, while students in grades nine through 12 are required to be transported if they live between 3 and 15 miles from their school.

A bid process determines how the students will be transported to their respective schools. Parents of non-public-school students must apply for transportation by April 1. The district then sends requests for bids to bus companies in order to gauge prices. In July, when the bids come back, district administrators analyze the figures and compare them with the cost of public transportation. If it is more cost-effective to provide a student with a MetroCard rather than a private bus, the district must do so, according to municipal law. The district offers students who are issued MetroCards suggested bus and/or subway routes from their homes to their schools.

In mid-July, several families were notified that their children would be issued MetroCards. “We share a responsibility to the taxpayers to make sure that their money is spent in efficiently a manner as possible,” said Wayne Loper, assistant superintendent for finance and operations. Loper added that 57 students will use MTA transportation this year, nearly double the number who did so in 2011-12, and as result the district will save more than $200,000.

Wayne Hutchinson, whose daughter attends Lawrence Woodmere Academy and has been issued a MetroCard, said that the 20-minute bus ride his daughter has had in years past will now turn into more than an hour. He raised the concern of safety for his daughter, who will be traveling in the dark, he said, especially during the winter months.

“We heard that the board is looking out for the taxpayers,” Hutchinson said. “Well, we’re taxpayers too, paying $6,300 a year in taxes, and we feel that our needs have been ignored.”

Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich explained that the state’s new 2 percent tax levy cap, which limits the amount of money that can be collected in property taxes, means that non-instructional expenses in the district’s budget — such as transportation — need to be scrutinized. “When our ability to generate revenue through the tax levy is capped,” he said, “we have to take a very close look at where we’re spending money, particularly when it comes to transportation.”

Addressing parents at last week’s meeting, Heidenreich said that providing students with MetroCards is nothing new, and added that he has never heard about any problems with safety among students who have used MTA transportation in his eight years in the district. He added that between 25 and 30 students are given MTA MetroCards each year.

“We have a responsibility to balance the variety of needs that a school district faces, with an emphasis on providing and maintaining instructional opportunities for students,” he said. “No one here has been denied transportation. That would be illegal to do so. The change is the way in which it’s being delivered. I’m sorry that it may not be to your liking, but our schools, whether it be public, parochial or private, are changing considerably.”

Charles Ott’s son attends St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows. Ott said that in years past, students from Valley Stream who attended St. Francis and Holy Cross High School, which is two miles from St. Francis, would ride the same bus. This year, however, students who attend Holy Cross were provided a bus, while St. Francis students were given MetroCards.

According to Ott’s research, which he presented to the board, the district is saving $729 for the year by giving the 10 students who attend St. Francis MetroCards instead of a private bus.

Transportation service to larger schools, including Chaminade High School and Kellenberg Memorial High School, remains unchanged. Loper said that approximately 220 students from Valley Stream attend Chaminade and Kellenberg, which is why it is more cost-effective to provide private buses.