Letter to the Editor: Busing for Private-School Students

From the Fairness for All Kids Coalition: 

The Fairness for All Kids Coalition – a group of parents, clergy, and community leaders dedicated to maintaining safe and reliable transportation to school for all students in Westchester’s Sound Shore – issued the following statement in response to the decision by the Mamaroneck Union Free School District to delay the second reading of its heavily criticized transportation policy from March 18th to April 8th:

"Even as the Mamaroneck School Board refuses to respond to citizens questions and continues to ignore the concerns of hundreds of residents about the safety and viability of the transportation plan, they have quietly changed the hearing date for their controversial policy. This is a victory for the children of Mamaroneck and Larchmont, and those with a stake in their safety.

"However, we remain unsatisfied as they publicly restate the same tired rhetoric in defense of their indefensible policy. They must understand that they can’t ignore the needs of such a large portion of their community by scheduling a critical meeting for a date when many families are away for spring break.

"The originally scheduled meeting date – March 18th – would have disenfranchised many parents with a personal stake in the outcome of this debate. Our coalition will be there in full force to see the School Board at the April 8th meeting, where we will continue to demand that they put an end to this dangerous and illegal proposal."

Amy Liebesman, one of the many concerned parents, added: "Holding public hearings only counts if you listen to what is being said. As our elected representatives, I hope the board will hear us."

Under the board’s current proposal, the school district would save $144,000 by forcing students at religious and independent schools to take public transportation, rather than safe, supervised yellow buses. This would require some students to commute on their own for more than three hours a day, and ignores the district's own lawyer's instructions that safety must be taken into account. Fairness For All Kids maintains that this proposal is unsafe, unfair, and illegal, and have protested it at every opportunity.