Nearly two weeks after missing a self-imposed May 6th deadline to inform Jackson parents who send to private schools whether their children will be receiving busing in the next school year, the Jackson Board of Education tabled a vote on nearly two dozen private school bus routes for the coming year.
Several months ago, hundreds of private school mothers attended a BOE meeting to express their dissatisfaction with being told whether their children will be receiving busing until close to the school year. This caused parents to struggle in finding alternatives to township-provided busing for their kids.
In response, the Board gave a presentation and imposed a May 6th deadline on itself to let parents know whether their children will be provided busing by the township.
May 6th came and went, and nothing was heard from the Board of Education. Parents tell Lakewood Alerts that they received no mail, emails, calls, or press releases from the Board about next year’s busing, nor did the BOE make any public comment about it.
This evening, the Board took another step to anger private school parents, tabling a vote on 22 bus routes for private school students until the June meeting. The reason provided was unspecified “safety concerns.”
Parents say that the 22 buses are themselves not nearly enough to provide transportation for all the students who need it, but the tabling of this vote – after the BOE already missed their own deadline to tell parents about services they’re being provided – is extremely upsetting.