North Caldwell School Board Ponders Busing Change

NORTH CALDWELL, NJ — The North Caldwell Board of Education will discuss the possibility of suspending the district’s subscription busing program for 2020-2021 at its meeting on Tuesday, May 12.

The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom at 7:30 p.m. due to the coronavirus. A link for the livestream will be posted on the district website, www.ncboe.org, and will be distributed via email prior to the meeting.

According to a notice from the board, its transportation committee has made the recommendation to suspend the subscription busing program for the 2020-2021 school year. The district would continue to provide busing for students only as mandated by law (generally meaning only for the limited number of people who are beyond two miles from their school).

The school board wrote:

“The recommendation was made after weighing the uncertainty of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on our school district, the strong potential for adherence to strict social distancing guidelines this fall, and concern regarding possible state funding cuts to education. As you would imagine, this is not something the transportation committee or the Board of Education is happy about. The Board of Education understands this will create difficulty for many families, but this may be necessary during these uncertain times.”

For those seeking to weigh in:

“As always, our meeting agenda will include an item called public recognition, at which time members of the public can address their comments to the board. With this new format, you can make your comment during the Zoom meeting when the agenda item arises. Alternatively, you can submit your comment in advance by emailing it to the Business Administrator / Board Secretary at mhalik@ncboe.org. If you submit your comment in advance, please make sure you provide your name and address as both are required for public comment; we cannot take anonymous public comments. All comments should be submitted by 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12.”

The agendas for board meetings are posted prior to the meeting dates. For a complete list of currently scheduled board meetings, click here.

“We thank the North Caldwell community for your understanding and your continued efforts to socially distance yourself in order to flatten the curve and prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the board stated. “We will persevere as a community during these challenging times.”

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