Mandated School Busing in NJ which is free to both public and private school students who live more than 2 miles from their school and are in kinder garden through 8th grade or 2.5 miles for high school students and whose school is nonprofit and within 20 miles of their home. The district must provide the bus service or pay the parent or the service provider $884 per student per year. If the changes their starting time so that they start at 8 instead of 9. The co-ed busing is dead as the public school students would not be on the same bus as the yeshiva students. The centralized bus route will require numerous buses one could be for boy the other for girls. Boys will only go on boy buses and girls on girl buses. The sex will be determined by who gets on the bus first.
As far as Special Ed that two is mandated. These students require teachers that speak their language and know the culture. Monsey does have a program in the public school for them but it’s total separate from the rest of the school. Special Ed in the Monsey public school cost about $40,000 per student per year while private school cost $60,000- $75,000 and Lakewood placed some students that cost $140,000 per student per year. Private special ed. is only authorized if the parent appeals the school placement in a public school. This appeal is via the courts and as per federal regulation both sides legal fees are paid by the school board.
It is not the Jewish resident that are causing the problem. State law limits the amount a district can raise Property Taxes. It is actually the seniors who started limiting property tax increases.
It’s a state problem they have to provide school busing for ALL Mandated Students. If they can’t or don’t, NJ law states the State must pay $884 per mandated student per year, to the service provider as compensation.
As for special ed since this requires that the student understand the teacher it requires Yiddish or Hebrew speaking teachers. Likewise, they need to know the student’s culture which is not always available in the public school.