Bus Travel Times Irk Pupils, Parents in Lower Township

NORTH WILDWOOD – Dianne Mahon wants to know why her 7-year-old son Andrew, a student at Cape Trinity Catholic School, is getting up for school at least 30 minutes earlier this year and arriving home in Lower Township at least 30 minutes later than last year.
According to Mahon, her son spends an hour on the bus getting to the North Wildwood school this year, while other children, who reside in other parts of Lower Township, spend even more time in transit every day.
She stated that she “received a short letter in the mail two days before school began from the school district, advising her that her son’s pick up time was being changed from 7:20 a.m. last year, to 6:40 a.m. this year.” The letter also informed her that her son would return at about 3:20 p.m. this year instead of last year’s 2:50 p.m.
Mahon called Lower Cape May Regional School District, which provides bus transportation to Cape Trinity Catholic, to ask why the times were changing, especially with so little notice. When pressed, the person responded, “we eliminated one of the three buses that normally services Lower Township” which has caused ride time delays when compared to last year.”
Mahon called Lower Cape May Regional School District Superintendent Christopher Kobik about the issue. Mahon stated Kobik basically said that his only options were to switch her bus service to another school other than LCMR High School, or provide parents with a monetary allotment for transporting the child so that parents could use it to secure their own transportation.
At a Sept. 15 morning meeting in Kobik’s office, about a dozen Lower Township parents gathered to explain their concerns that the ride times for their children were longer than last year and that this was due to a reduction in the number of busses being used.
Business Administrator Mark Mallett, Sister Sheila Murphy, principal of Cape Trinity Catholic School, and Joseph Battle, in charge of district transportation, were also in attendance.
Kobik began by explaining that he has been meeting with his finance people to try to find ways to fulfill the district’s obligations and provide the best services possible to the students.
Kobik distributed an excerpt of New Jersey state law that explained he is limited to a per-pupil transportation cost of $884 and that he may not spend more than that amount.
He and Mallett further explained that if they were to add another bus, the per-pupil costs would exceed $1,051, which would violate state law.
Kobik acknowledged that the district receives state aid in the amount of $1 million, but “our aid does not cover the costs.” He repeated that even if they had increased funding, the law that limits per-pupil costs would prevent them from applying those monies to transportation.
Kobik further explained the reduction in the number of buses from three buses for last year, to two this year (for Cape Trinity) by pointing out that enrollments are down from last year. He stated that the decision to cut one bus was made by his transportation supervisor, and that he, as the superintendent, approved the action.
Mallett then checked his figures and acknowledged that enrollments were actually pretty flat from last year to this year, but both agreed that if they were to add that third bus, the per-pupil costs would exceed the $884 maximum.
Kobik also acknowledged that the district may have inadvertently exceeded that $884 figure last year, but that they have corrected that. He stated that this was “not a perfect way to do this” and “it’s not like we don’t care about our kids” as he stressed his commitment to providing the best service he can, given his limited resources.
One parent questioned Kobik about the amount of money the district would lose if non-public students were to enroll in the public school system. Kobik replied that, based on declining enrollments, there would be little impact on the school system in that eventuality.
Others asked about reducing the number of bus stops in order to reduce the ride times; Kobik deferred that question to Battle. He indicated that reducing the number of stops would decrease travel times if parents agreed to the reduction.
Another parent reminded Kobik that the issue of ride times is especially important when the children in question are 6 or 7 years old. “We are doing the best we can (to reduce ride times) but there is only so much we can do,” Kobik said.
Kobik also distributed a spreadsheet that illustrated the travel times for the two busses that serve Cape Trinity students and the one bus that serves Cape Christian Academy. He explained that the average travel times for the Cape Trinity morning run have actually decreased over the last two weeks from 70 minutes to 52 for Bus No. 50 that has 24 stops, and for Bus No. 53 that went from 82 minutes to 47 minutes with 19 stops.
The bus serving Cape Christian has not reduced ride times, but adjustments to that route have yet to be made. Battle explained that at the beginning of the year, buses stop at each designated stop whether a student is there or not, and that after a week or two in the new school year, the number of stops is reduced as drivers learn which students actually use bus service, and which do not.
Parents seemed to have a favorable reaction to the superintendent’s outreach to them on this issue although they also feel that one reason why ridership is declining is because so many parents are unhappy with the ride times and transport their students themselves. They feel that if everyone used the bus service, more buses would be added.
Sister Sheila suggested that travel times will also decrease because traffic volume in the area is reduced now, and pupils are becoming better at boarding buses as well.
She offered to work with Battle and parents to determine if a consolidation of stops is possible to reduce ride times. Kobik agreed and thanked her and the parents for their flexibility in trying to solve this problem.
Kobik thanked the attendees for their concerns and for their ideas on how they can collectively solve the problem.
The parents met with Sister Sheila after the meeting and agreed that she would distribute a letter to all parents inviting them to participate in the attempt to consolidate some stops in order to reduce ride times which was the central purpose of the morning’s meeting.
They felt they had the cooperation of the school district to accomplish that goal.
To contact Jim McCarty, email jmccarty@cmcherald.com.