$3.5M In Courtesy Busing Aid For Freehold Regional Schools Proposed

MANALAPAN, NJ — Area legislators say they plan to introduce a bill in Trenton that would give the Freehold Regional High School District $3.5 million in aid so the district won't have to cut courtesy busing next year.

State Sen. Robert Singer and Assemblyman Sean Kean and Assemblyman Ned Thomson, all R-District 30, announced they are drafting the legislation so nearly 3,000 students won't have to walk on what they said are dangerous roads with no sidewalks to schools in the district.

They said the busing is an "absolute necessity" in a suburban area served for the most part by busy highways. They said they hope to obtain the funds from the state budget surplus.

But as welcome as the funds would be, the district noted the aid would only be a "one-year fix."

The regional district, with offices in Manalapan, serves more than 10,000 students in six high schools: Manalapan, Marlboro, Howell, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township and Colts Neck high schools.

State aid decreases since 2018 to equalize state funding under the state S-2 bill have squeezed the district budget for years, Superintendent Charles Sampson has said.

By next year, cumulative state aid reductions will have reached $30 million for the district. So far, 132 positions have been cut in the past few years, all while the district operates with the lowest per-pupil cost in the county ($14,000), he has said.

"If this legislation is introduced and passed, it would only be a one-year fix. We still face massive cuts for the next budget year, thanks to S-2. There is an estimated $10 million deficit for fiscal year 2024-2025 (the last year of the funding formula under S-2)," district officials said yesterday.

"Meaningful, long-term change is the only way to prevent further devastating cuts in the Freehold Regional and other S-2 impacted school districts," the district said.

And then there is the issue of how successful the funding proposal would be once it is introduced.

A District 30 spokesperson said, depending on how long it takes for the Office of Legislative Services to draft the bill, it could be introduced as early as May 18. But then the bill would go to Education Committees in both houses, beginning a long road to any vote in the Legislature.

The district last week announced the courtesy busing cuts that would mean students living within a 2.5-mile radius of their high schools would either have to walk or find alternate transportation to school.

The district serves western Monmouth County, and many schools are located near pedestrian unfriendly highways. There are no sidewalks in many areas, for example.

But state law does not require busing within the 2.5-mile radius. Regional district officials said they were forced to make the cut to close a budget gap when state aid cuts this year left them with another shortfall that could not be made up elsewhere.

And the change has brought out legislators from all areas of the school district - and local officials such as Manalapan Mayor Susan Cohen - calling for Gov. Murphy to share some of the state's $10 billion surplus to restore the busing.

The municipalities in the district are represented by District 13 (Marlboro), District 12 (Manalapan and Englishtown), District 11 (Freehold, Freehold Township and Colts Neck), and the District 30 legislators, representing Howell and Farmingdale.

“Courtesy busing is an absolute necessity for the students of Freehold Regional High School District,” said Singer. “We cannot have young teenagers walking or riding bikes to school on streets with no sidewalks, very congested and dangerous roads, and other areas that are more rural.”

Kean added, “This decision will be debilitating for working families who will have to choose between getting their child safely to school or getting to work on time.”

“The fact is that it should never have come to this. For the governor to tout a $10 billion budget surplus yet force districts to compromise the safety of their students is unconscionable and an insult to the taxpaying residents of the district,” said Thomson.

The District 30 legislators said they consider S-2 a "failed policy that is not improving education for all children." They said they did not support the original legislation.