Monmouth Regional will Continue to Offer Courtesy Busing in the Fall

Parents of Monmouth Regional students who receive courtesy busing were relieved to get word on Wednesday that the service had been reinstated for the 2011-2012 school year.

"Everybody was ecstatic," said Susan Guarino, Tinton Falls, of the June 29 memo that was e-mailed and sent by Honeywell Instant Alert to parents.

Parents were notified the week before that courtesy busing, defined as busing for students who live less than 2.5 miles from the school, had been eliminated as of July 1 for the upcoming school year.

The district is required by the state to provide busing to all students who live more than 2.5 miles from the school. Those approximately 300 students who live closer are extended courtesy busing, using Monmouth Regional's own buses.

According to MRHS Business Administrator Maria Parry, who sent the recent memo, courtesy busing had been eliminated from the budget for next year help keep the budget under the two-percent cap.

After the school started getting phone calls from parents upset by the news, Parry said the school's supervisor of transportation, Monica Mintz, revisited the routes to see if buses could be used more efficiently.

The "solution," explained Parry, was to adjust all the routes. Stops have been compressed on routes, maybe from ten stops to three, which saves time and allows the buses to complete more routes.

The buses will go from a double tier, where each bus make two complete routes in a two-hour period, to triple tier, adding an extra route in the morning and afternoon pick up slots.

Parry said that some students will end up arriving at the school by 6:45 a.m., but will be able to take advantage of the school's new breakfast program, as mandated by the NJ Department of Agriculture.

Students will also be able to work on laptops or other electronic devices, do homework and talk to friends.

Some routes will also end up leaving the high school each day after 3 p.m.

"This is a partnership with the parents," said Parry, adding the district was able to sustain a popular service with "out-of-the-box" thinking.

Guarino, who will have a junior at the high school next year, said that getting courtesy busing back was "the big news in Tinton Falls this week."