Millstone school district's busing issue half solved
St. Rose of Lima and Notre Dame kids will get rides to school
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - Township students attending Notre Dame High School in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence can breathe a sigh of relief: they will have busing on the first day of school.

Millstone Superintendent of Schools Mary Anne Donahue said that the school district's transportation coordinator, John Griffiths, has made arrangements for Notre Dame busing and that the Monmouth Ocean Educational Services Commission (MOESC) has approved the contract.

The Millstone Township School District is continuing to work on securing transportation for its students attending St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel and Christian Brothers Academy in the Lincroft section of Middletown.

The district's initial bidding process for out-of-district bus runs came up empty, as not a single bus company chose to bid for any of the routes. When the district asked the MOESC to rebid the routes earlier this month, a company bid for the run to St. Rose of Lima School in Freehold. Now, all 83 Notre Dame students will be accommodated on two buses as well, according to Donahue.

"Each bus will make two stops in the morning and two stops in the afternoon," she said.

The cost for the Notre Dame bus service amounts to $859 per student, which is the maximum allowable cost by state statute, according to Donahue.

"There is no cost to the district," Donahue said. "It is money that comes from the state."

Recent Board of Education meetings have been filled with concerned parents of private school students. As a result of the ongoing

busing issue, Ass emblywoman Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth/ Mercer) attended the Aug. 13 meeting and said she would personally speak to bus companies to move the rebidding process along.

While private school parents have accused the board of not doing enough to secure transportation for their children, Beck said that the district has been working hard on the issue all along. She also said that she represents several school districts where boards of education "just said the heck with them," and opted to pay parents aid in lieu of transportation.

With aid in lieu of transportation, the state provides the $859 maximum busing cost to private school parents, who then must find transportation for their children.