LI District In Talks Of Revising Policy, After School Bus Controversy

LINDENHURST, NY — A Long Island school district which was criticized last week by parents who say their children are ineligible to ride the school bus is discussing revisions to its transportation policy.

At a board of education meeting on Wednesday night, Superintendent Anthony Davidson and the Lindenhurst Board of Education held a reading of the first set of revisions to its transportation policy, with the goal of more students becoming eligible to ride the school bus.

Last week, multiple parents expressed frustrations, saying their children had to walk through high traffic areas to get to school, after learning they were not eligible to ride the bus.

Davidson addressed parents' concerns before the revisions were discussed.

In the spring of 2021, he said the district performed a routine audit its bus provider, Suffolk Transportation, and its software program, Edulog.

"The results of this audit revealed that approximately 100 students were found to be ineligible for busing according to policy and New York State regulations," said Davidson.

The district then informed families of their ineligibility, a process he said that continued through the summer of 2021.

A second audit was then conducted by an independent contractor using the software Transfiinder, to ensure the data was correct.

"Two separate reviews led to the same results," he said.

However, the decision came as a surprise for several parents, who say they learned of it about two weeks before the school year started. Parents expressed concerns of their children's safety on social media, as many must now walk through high-traffic areas.

According to its website, district policy states that students in grades K through 5 are eligible for bus transportation if they live three-quarters of a mile from school. Students in grades 6 through 8 are eligible if they live one mile from school, and grades 9-12 are eligible if they live 1.5 miles from school.

Davidson told meeting participants that the Board’s policy committee has begun discussing proposed changes to the start points and end points used in calculating mileage, "a change that largely impacted the eligibly" for riders.

"Most notably, changes include moving the end points at the middle and high school to one single endpoint at the main entrance door," Davidson said. "If approved, this change will return bus eligibility to a large percentage of the students who were determined to be ineligible last summer."

The changes would not negatively impact anyone, he added.

A second reading of the revisions will take place on Oct. 12. If there have been no changes to the revisions proposed on the policy, it will be voted on. If it passes, the changes will go into effect.