New Jersey school district wants to eliminate courtesy busing for some elementary students
DELANCO TWP, N.J. (CBS) — A second school district in New Jersey is proposing eliminating student courtesy busing.
The Delanco Township School District will discuss the proposal during a public meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at M. Joan Pearson Elementary School.
Earlier this month, the Deptford Township School District announced it was eliminating busing but quickly rescinded the proposal after public outcry.
The proposal from Dr. Leonard Fitts, the superintendent of schools, states students at Pearson Elementary, who live less than 2 miles away, will no longer get courtesy busing. Pearson is the only elementary school in the township.
Under the proposed change, special education students at Pearson and high school students who live more than 2 miles from school would still receive courtesy busing. High school students in Delanco attend nearby Riverside High School.
In Deptford, parents voiced their opinions about the school district's bus plan Tuesday night. After public outcry, the plan had already been shelved, but parents still showed up at the board of education meeting. It was their first face-to-face meeting with Deptford Township School District Superintendent Kevin Kanauss since the plan was announced.
Earlier this month, Deptford Township School District told parents it would immediately cut free bus service for some students. Kanauss claimed it would save the district $1.5 million a year. However, parents pushed back for safety concerns, and the school district changed its tune, so students in the school district will still get courtesy busing.
"Whenever there's a problem, the parents come together," parent Tam Burns said. "When all this happened, the parents came right to the news. The parents were not going to stand for this. The teachers are not going to stand for this. It's a very close-knit community. No one is going to stand for this."
"These kids deserve this," parent Michelle Hoffman said. "Not only that, but you're putting them in jeopardy of getting abducted through woods, hit by a car, injured, killed."
Kanauss said he would do better in the future when notifying the community of changes. The district is working on its new transportation plan.
It's not clear how many students in Delanco would be impacted, but the district has nearly 380 students.
