TLS Exclusive Message from LSTA Director Busing Update

Hi, Aram Kravitz here from the LSTA office giving you an update on busing school year 16 17. Firstly, I'd like to thank the Lakewood Scoop for being a tremendous means of getting the word out to the Lakewood community for all matters, but specifically for me on this matter. and I plan to um continuously update the Lakewood scoop with the happenings and updates in regards to the um LSTA. So the larger schools that were bid last week in Lakewood um were routed bid last week Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and we are working on contracting as well as bus passes. The bus passes were emailed to the school starting last night and through the course of today for those that were already ratted and bid. The schools will be in touch with the parents about how to pick up the bus passes and we're looking forward to a Wednesday roll out of those schools that were done. This Wednesday, we have another bid scheduled. And just to make you aware, legally you have to give uh a 10-day notice to the vendors about um bidding. Hence, right after the bill was signed a short few weeks ago, our first possible day of bidding was on Monday of last week. So, this Wednesday, we have another bid will be a large bid of a few of the larger schools that weren't done yet. and the um short uh the mid-range to um smaller schools that we'll get done as many as we can. And next week, Monday and Tuesday, once again, we do have two more days of bidding to hopefully finish everything up. By next week, Tuesday, I hope to know which schools um are going to be picked up by buses and which schools will not be picked up by buses. There's a severe shortage of buses in Lakewood, not allowing that every kid could possibly be picked up. I do pledge that once we get this off the ground, to really put effort in getting buses to come in, even midy year to pick up routes that weren't done. This bill when it was signed three weeks ago um allowed us to start this new entity and really start it up from scratch and have this uh tremendous task of getting close to 30,000 kids bid routed and sent off to school. And um for Wednesday we're at about 50% of the kids will be done and and we hope after Wednesday's bid another 25 to 30% and then by next week Tuesday hopefully 100% of the kids will be bid and routed and then we can figure out who is picked up and who isn't picked up. Just to explain the um fee, the $150 fee for the non-mandated, here are the guidelines. If you live 0.5 miles to the school and below, um, you're not entitled to courtesy or even pickup courtesy or anything else. If you live.5 miles to 2 miles for elementary or 0.5 miles to 2.5 miles to the school for high school, you are deemed as courtesy or non-mandated. And the bill allows you that when we are able, not that it allows everybody, but when there's an ability to pick up a non-mandated kid on a route, we um are able to do that. Point 2.5 miles for high school and two miles for elementary, you are called mandated. And if you don't get picked up, you are entitled to the 8.84. Now the spirit of the bill is say last year or in previous years it cost $600 plus dollars to bus a kid in liquid to school. By getting $8.84 times the mandated kids that gives us an ability with the 200 plus dollars per kid on the mandated to subsidize again as many non-mandated as possible. A uh misinformation is or a mistake is to think that the bill guarantees that every mandated kid will be picked up. That's not what's written in the bill. It says um as it says not that all kids will be picked up but as many non-mandated kids as possible. So because we have this shortage of buses and because there will be a nice amount of kids that are just going to get the aid in Lu um as per law. So those kids, their 884 leaves it leaves the general fund and doesn't allow us to subsidize anybody else. And because this is a community-based effort and everybody's joining in to bus as many kids as possible, we have to charge $150 per kid in order to uh make up or or or sub or or or subsidize ourselves on the non-mandated kids whose 884 are totally being lost for the mandate that aren't being picked up. Um just another point the new norm or the world that we live in today says that all the thoughts and ideas of previous really have to be rethought and we have to uh run this like a business making sure that we have uh the means of paying our bills and staying solvent. So we have to have less stops and we have to have longer loads and we need to work on creative bidding and we need to work on combining schools. There are a few schools that generously are combining in order to enable their children to uh um um get to school and allow other people's children to get to schools. There are some schools that are having drop off a few minutes earlier that will enable us to have 15 more buses out there um out there um picking up kids. If your school is not picked up, it is by no means uh uh something to do with your school or the lack of their ability to get things done. That is solely decided by the vendors and the vendors bid on routes that they find profitable for them. And again, I repeat, this has nothing to do with your school. It just has to do with the severe shortage that we do. One last point for me in regards to this fee. I understand that adding an extraas or another bill onto people really complicates people's lives and it's not something that we we we we wanted to do or not something that we could afford frankly not to do in order to get the bus to kids bus the kids to school. just um um if this bill didn't pass and the uh non-mandated kids wouldn't have been subsidized, it would have cost each parent of a non-mandated kid to get in private busing close to 700, possibly $750. This ability, this bill gives an ability to charge 150 and again we do so not gladly and we do so because we have no other means of um staying salving the bills. If you have any questions or ideas, of course, you can email at info lakewoodsta.org. And we have many challenges that we need to get through. We need to figure out Jackson and Toms River busing as those communities grow. We need to figure out a means obviously of combining more schools. We need to figure out a means of becoming more economically healthy. And that's something that is going to have to be a grassroots effort to um to to to achieve and get done. I'll just end in closing that three out of my four school age kids will not have busing on Wednesday. And I understand the frustration that it causes and how it it it complicates um our daily lives. Um, I'm just asking for patience while we effort in getting this off the ground and slowly over the course of the next few months create a healthier bus system to serve us um long term. Thank you and um we'll be in