Anger Flares at Township Council Meeting Over Board of Education's Busing Policy Shift

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ – At Tuesday's Township Council meeting, residents expressed frustration with the recent decision by the Board of Education to discontinue courtesy busing and disregard data from a traffic consultant on hazardous routes for children walking to school.

The evening prior, many parents received an email from the School District's Transportation Coordinator, Kelly Sheehan, informing them that starting Fall 2024, courtesy busing would no longer be provided for their children. Concerned parents questioned how their children would safely get to school, particularly those residing on Emerson Lane, where walking routes are deemed unsafe without busing. There was a call for the council to urge the Board of Ed to reconsider this decision.

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Berkeley Heights resident Ain Farrow pointed out that many of the busiest roads in town are actually county roads. “Diamond Hill Road is a county road. Mountain Avenue is a county road. If people started paying attention to the roads that were actually county roads, and to the laws that pertain to those, they will understand that you just can't throw up a speed limit sign because the town wants to on a county road. You can't just throw a sidewalk on a county road. When you have a county road, everybody has to be at the table for that. It's a long study that’s drawn out, and at the end of the day, there are no safe routes [on those roads] for the children to get to school.”

Resident Ramya Kasthuri brought attention to recent social media discussions, asserting that it is the council's duty to address and identify unsafe roads concerning schoolchildren. This action aimed to ensure the council is informed about public sentiments, enabling them to distinguish between their responsibilities and those of the board. Kasthuri acknowledged the complexity of the issue, noting prevalent confusion and a tendency for the roles of the council and the board to be misconstrued.

Kasthuri then read a social media post about this issue: “There's clear New Jersey Department of Education guidance on transportation. ... Pedestrian safety and traffic management falls under Berkeley Heights Township. … Where is the township in taking responsibility and accountability for ensuring uniform sidewalks and crosswalks in town? … In terms of the responsibilities of the town versus the Board of Ed, who is responsible and accountable for determining safe or hazardous roads, specifically as it pertains to students being able to walk to school or get transportation to school?”

Mayor Angie Devanney made it clear that hazardous roads, as it relates to busing and school and kids walking to school is the domain of the Board of Education. When there's a pothole in the road or if there's no right of way so a sidewalk can’t be installed, and so forth, it falls on the township administration, the police department, the DPW, and engineering. “That child who lives on Emerson Lane [for example], really could never walk to school, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's hazardous in the context of a traffic engineer deeming it hazardous. I feel like we are in the middle of a conversation that is not our conversation to have.”

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Frustration with the Board of Education was strong and universal. “It's just not safe. So whatever you [the council] can do to convince the four board members who didn't want to rely on the experts ... is greatly appreciated,” said Kasthuri.

Council President John Foster said it was his understanding from Board President Gale Bradford that this data was brought before the Board of Education, and that certain members of the board wouldn't vote for this unless they got proprietary information. “I don't know who they were. No names were discussed. The company that they hired has private proprietary information and private proprietary technology to read the information, about how they go about and learn about the streets and figure out the streets.” Foster continued, “At our monthly meeting with Gale, one of the topics we discussed was [the consultant’s] survey of hazardous roadways. Based on the survey, they found certain roads were hazardous for kids walking to school.”

Resident Debbie Terrero is very concerned for the “victims” of this decision - the school children and their parents. “The Board of Education has made a decision. And everybody's in a pickle. … We have to come up with solutions to this.” Terrero suggested improving crosswalks, assigning crossing guards in some locations to alleviate some of the family’s anxieties, “because not every family is going to be able to afford this busing situation. They're going to have to opt to having their children walk.” She felt that this is less of an issue getting their kids to school, and that the bigger issue is getting them home.

Foster shared the public’s frustration. “[The board] hired an engineer to study and show roads that are hazardous. And because they didn't want to give the board their information on how they did it, [the board thought] they could go out and figure it out on their own.” Foster felt that it was sort of an ‘I'm on the board, I'm going to take this information, and I'm going to decide whether or not a road is hazardous in and of itself.’ attitude on some of the board. “I'm not trying to mock anybody. … It's on them to decide whether or not they're going to take that study and use those streets and the information that they have as hazardous or not hazardous, and do their busing from there. … I think they've opened a can of worms.”

Council Vice President Susan Poage wondered if leaders from the board would sit with leaders from the council, who could say, “Look, we figured out how to work on town council, we get things done, because we're getting along. … It’s about busing, yet, it's also about learning how to be good leaders in a community that work together to get things done.” Poage didn’t understand the logic of hiring an expert, and then not trusting the expert’s report.

Terrero felt that certain groups are stirring the pot and not making things any better. “It's actually very refreshing to see the town council getting along like this, because it has been a nightmare. And it's refreshing to watch you all work together. … Hopefully, our Board of Education can actually use you as an example. I don't think this board is going to change their minds.” After the meeting, Terrero gave her opinion on the members who would not accept the consultant’s data, “The bottom line is these people are bitter about the redistricting. And they get rid of everybody that's part of that.”

Related article: Berkeley Heights Residents Concerned Over Board's Decision to Eliminate Courtesy Busing for 2024-25 School Year ; Board of Ed Initially Approves Superintendent Search Firm, Then Reverses Decision. Revised Busing Policy Sparks Debate, Remains Unapproved

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