Bussing
The Short Version.....
Little Silver is a small district, but as a public school we are responsible for bussing students who live outside of a 2 mile radius from the school, as well as students placed out of district or attending private school. In 2021-2022, Little Silver will spend over $300,000 in transportation, which is nearly double our costs in previous years.
Want to help make positive change?
Copy and paste this message, or edit with your own ideas, address it appropriately (i.e. to The Honorable insert Senator's name), sign your name, and email to our representatives in government:
I am a resident of Little Silver, NJ. Our public school district serves students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade. Our transportation costs have greatly increased.
Public school districts are responsible for bussing in district students who live outside a 2 mile radius of school or are in an area where walking to school is not deemed safe. They are also responsible for the transportation costs of students who need out of district services, or who choose to attend a private school. With the current transportation crisis, which includes a shortage of drivers and competition with other industries needing drivers with a CDL license, costs have impacted public school budgets not only in Little Silver, NJ but nationally.
I propose quick and creative solutions to combat this problem. Incentives for people to obtain their CDL license should be in place. Free driver training, sponsored by the state, would be helpful. A careful review of the CDL requirements may reveal they can be amended for those wishing to drive a school bus on a local route.
Public school budgets are already stressed by a multitude of factors: rising special education costs paired with underfunding of federal IDEA and state aid, rising costs of benefits for staff, aging infrastructure, and continual adoption of unfunded curriculum mandates. Transportation costs are adding to this stress, and the issue needs your prompt intervention.
Thank you for your consideration.
Email to The Honorable Declan O'Scanlon: senoscanlon@njleg.org
Email to The Honorable Cory Booker: https://www.booker.senate.gov/contact/write-to-cory
Email to The Honorable Bob Menendez: https://www.menendez.senate.gov/contact/email
All the Info.....
Bussing has presented challenges to Little Silver, as well as other public schools, for quite some time. Recently there has been even a worse shortage of bus drivers, driving the cost of transportation services up. Changes in the requirements for the CDL license, employment issues following the pandemic, and wage influence from competing industries has put public schools needing bussing in a costly position.
We are focusing our efforts in NJ, but the problems surrounding the availability and cost of bussing are nationwide. Some states have made efforts to recruit bus drivers with "driver fairs" educating the public on the process to become a bus driver, even allowing them to try driving a bus so they realize it's not an impossible feat to learn. We are encouraging NJ to address the bussing issue with creative ideas too. See these recent articles for more information and inspiration:
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2021/10/04/new-jersey-holcomb-bus-company-driver-shortage/
https://www.inquirer.com/news/new-jersey-start-times-schools-bus-shortage-20210925.html
If you have any ideas for recruiting and retaining bus drivers, please share them with our state senators. Or, simply contact them to make them aware of the situation. With our encouragement, they will do everything possible to improve this situation.
For your legislators' contact information, go to the "Contact Your Representatives" link in the menu or use the sample letter and link in the "the short version" section on this page.
The Latest Update....
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Education announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is taking action to alleviate the school bus driver shortage. The FMCSA is temporarily giving states the option of waiving the portion of the commercial driver’s license skills test that requires applicants to identify the “under the hood” engine components. All other components of the written and road test will remain.
Click here to read an update from the NJSBA: