by Melissa Bykofsky
A petition signed by over 200 individuals was sent into the SCHSD administrative offices last week publicly requesting that funding be found to restore the late bus program.
“We implore the Board to remedy this error in judgement ..?. otherwise the adverse impact of this decision will permeate among several hundred families in the SCHSD, many schools will be affected and the community as a whole will feel the underlying affects,” stated the petition letter written by Thomas R. Scanlon, a Franklin Square resident who has two sons in the district who both attend Kellenberg Memorial High School.
The SCHSD, which covers Franklin Square, Elmont, New Hyde Park and Floral Park, saw their budget slashed at least $2 million from last year, causing a disruption in many programs including summer school, drivers education and late bus transportation for the public, private and parochial schools attended by students in the district.
The cut of the late bus service saved the district $150,000« in the 2009-10 school year alone. It was among the cuts that District Superintendent Warren Meierdiercks said in an interview that he was hopeful could be restored as soon as possible.
At the Board of Education meetings following the passage of the reduced budget, parents and students who were affected came out to argue their need for the late busses.
“This cut creates safety and environmental issues,” Scanlon said. “I have two sons that go to Kellenberg and take a late bus five days a week. Maybe people can carpool, but you are going to have additional cars on the road, and more teens driving their younger friends home.”
According to Scanlon, other arguments made at the meetings for the restoration of the late bus service included that if even 10 families pulled their children out of private or parochial schools because they no longer have transportation, the cost for the public school to educate these children would be equal to, or greater than th?e $150,000 that was saved by cutting the transportation.
In response to the petition, Meierdiercks, sent out a letter to the principals of each parochial school describing a plan to help the parents with transportation.
“We have arranged for late bus service at parent expense with our primary contractor, WE Transport, at a cost of $1,800 per month, per bus,” Meierdiercks wrote. “ If, for example, 40 parents wished to avail themselves of this service, the daily rate per student would be approximately $2.25. The per diem cost, of course, would fluctuate should the number of participants vary.”
Parents interested in pursuing this option are directed to call the district’s transportation director, Michael Onufrey, at (516) 488–9821 prior to the start of the school year.
Included in the 200 signatures on the late bus service petition were parents and students from Kellenberg Memorial High School, Sacred Heart Academy, Chaminade High School, Our Lady of Mercy Academy, HolyÚ Trinity High School, St. Mary’s, and Malloy.
“You’re not just taking a two minute car ride for a kid who stays after school for extra-help or sports,” Scanlon said. “You want your children to be involved in after school activities, and you don’t want them to give that up because you can’t leave work early to get them. It is not just the parent affected, it is the grandparents, or the neighbors. It is unquantifiable how much this cut will affect the
community.”
According to Scanlon, his main reason for writing the petition was to get the word out to parents who might not be aware of the cuts made to the budget.
“I know there are still people who don’t know about this topic, and they are not going to know until that first week of school when there are no late buses,” he said.
When the late bus service was cut from the 2009-10 budget, it was made clear to parents through district meetings that the cut would be discussed and reevaluated for the following year, according to Sewanhaka officials.
