At a special meeting last night, the BOE confirmed that the district has neither the time nor the resources to offer "courtesy" busing services for the 2022-23 school year.

BOE President Joshua said: "After reviewing the analysis and discussing the options with the administration and our attorneys, it is clear that the district cannot provide additional transportation at this time."

Mr. Joshua went on to say that the BOE would begin making its goals for the 2022-2023 school year, and that "analyzing options and making a recommendation for how to revise the transportation policy will likely be one of those goals."

Only "likely" a goal?  And not anytime soon?

This is an unacceptable outcome.  Families need a one-mile radius now.

Starting in September, there will be young children walking extremely long and dangerous routes.  There will be families dipping into savings to arrange for new or additional childcare.  There will be children missing school when the logistics are too hard to overcome, whether because of lack of access to a ride or inclement weather.

If there is not enough time to fix this very unfair and very dangerous problem by September, then the BOE must do it by October.  If not by October, then by November.  Real life happens daily, not in school years.

Fixing this quickly is especially critical given that the overwhelming majority of impacted families are those with elementary students who (a) have been placed outside of their neighborhood as a result of the Intentional Integration Initiative, (b) attend Marshall or Bolden as part of the historical Marshall/Bolden pairing, or (c) attend Seth Boyden because of the historical opt-in program.

Three different diversity-driven programs, three groups of families doing their part to support those programs, three groups of families being left to fend for themselves.

Please take a moment to share your thoughts with our appointed and elected leaders:

• BOE: boemembers@somsd.k12.nj.us
• Dr. Taylor: rtaylor@somsd.k12.nj.us
• Maplewood Mayor, Dean Dafis: ddafis@twp.maplewood.nj.us
• South Orange Village President, Sheena Collum: scollum@southorange.org 

This cannot wait until next year.  SOMA families need a one-mile radius NOW.