Assemblywoman weighs in on Millstone bus issue
Beck says she'll call bus companies to urge them to bid on routes
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck has gotten involved in the school district's fight to help find busing for its nonpublic school students.

Beck (R-Monmouth and Mercer) met with Millstone Township Board of Education members and private school officials Aug. 13 and attended the board's public meeting later that day.

The board held its meeting in the Millstone Township Elementary School cafeteria, which was crowded with parents of private school students.

Initially, not a single bus company bid for the Millstone Township School District's outof district bus runs. When the district asked the Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission (MOESC) to rebid the routes, a company did bid for the route to and from St. Rose of Lima School in Freehold. However, the district still does not have bids for its runs to St. John Vianney in Holmdel, Notre Dame High School in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence and Christian Brothers Academy in the Lincroft section of Middletown.

Superintendent of Schools Mary Anne Donahue said it would cost the school district $17,500 to lease a bus for a year. Additional salary and benefit costs would increase the annual cost for a single bus to between $58,000 and $67,000 per year, she said.

By state statute, the district can only spend $859 per pupil for out-of-district private school transportation.

Beck said that many school districts opt to pay aid to parents in lieu of a transportation fee, but that Millstone has been working hard to find busing for its students. She said that the district has considered eliminating half-day runs to St. John Vianney and Christian Brothers Academy so it could bid for a 170-day job instead of the typical 180- day job.

Beck said she would call bus companies herself to move the bidding process along.

"I will make a personal plea for them to step up to the plate," she said.

Beck said that MOESC will prepare to rebid Millstone's bus routes by Aug. 17 and that by law it must leave the bid out for 10 days. Information about the rebidding would not be available to the public until Aug. 31, she said.

Another problem the school district faces with busing is that there is currently a national shortage of qualified bus drivers. Beck said that parents should inform the school district if they know of anyone with a commercial driver's license (CDL) who would be willing to drive a bus.

Although parents of private school students have criticized the Board of Education about the busing issue, Beck said that she represents several districts where boards "just said the heck with them" and opted to pay parents the aid in lieu of transportation.

Board member Thomas Foley said subscription busing is another option the school district can look into. He told the audience that a private school could request to have a subscription bus and that parents could pay transportation fees to the school.

Donahue said subscription busing had been discussed at the morning meeting and that St. John Vianney officials said that such a bus cost the school $30,000 last year.

The superintendent said another problem with subscription busing is that the service is paid for on a monthly basis and as students get their driver's licenses they no longer use the bus to get to school.

Donahue also said that giving bus companies higher rates for subscription busing guarantees that they will not bid on routes and will wait to charge more. She cited this as a reason why private schools asked the school district to work with them and to come up with alternatives to subscription busing.

When asked what would happen if the district does not have bids by Aug. 31, Board of Education President Mary Ann Friedman said the district may have to offer parents aid in lieu of transportation. She noted that bus companies will not bid on the routes they know they cannot make money on.

Donahue explained that it would be the responsibility of the school district, not the private school, to pay parents the aid in lieu of transportation.

As a result of the busing issue, the school district has decided that when it holds its annual high school open house, the business administrator and transportation coordinators will make it clear to parents that busing to private schools is not necessarily a given.

Friedman said that the district is constantly advertising for bus drivers.

"It's a crisis not just in Millstone, but everywhere," she said.