CAPE MAY — The U.S. Coast Guard informed parents late last year that it will no longer pay to provide bus transportation to Cape May Elementary School, but Coast Guard Training Center Commanding Officer, Capt. Sandra L. Stosz told the board of education at a Jan. 24 meeting, it would continue to fund the bus transportation.
The move would have stopped school bus service for 96 children as of the end of this school year and saved the Coast Guard $65,000.
Stosz informed parents of the impending change in a Nov. 30, 2007 letter. She said she has been working since the announcement with the school board and City of Cape May and her chain of command to find other options.
“Because the school board has stated they don’t have adequate federal Impact Aid to fund the school bus transportation, and therefore are not able to fund the transportation, that gives the Coast Guard the ability to exercise the authority to continue to fund the school bus with our operating funds in order to insure the safety of those children,” said Stosz.
“We thank you all for working together to come up with a great solution to ensure the safe passage of our children on the school bus,” she continued.
School Board President Linda Loughlin said the board would send a letter to the Coast Guard indicating federal Impact Aid fund it receives could not cover the cost of the school buses.
An officer in the audience, beginning a four-year tour of duty in Cape May, asked if bus situation would need to be reevaluated each year.
Loughlin said it may be necessary to send the letter informing the Coast Guard every year of the shortfall of federal Impact Aid for busing.
Stosz said the Coast Guard would work with the school board to determine if the cost of busing could be reduced by possibly using fewer than three buses and staggering starting times for different grade levels.
“I think a lot of good has come out of this negotiation and we are going to move ahead for the benefit of all taxpayers and ourselves,” she said.
Resident Jack Wichterman, a board member of the Taxpayers Association of Cape May, commended the Coast Guard and school board for working together to resolve the issue. He said the school did not receive enough impact aid to satisfy the cost of each child coming into the school.
“But, we do need the Coast Guard,” said Wichterman.
“They are a vital part of Cape May.”
He recalled a time when the Coast Guard considered closing the base and local residents were in a panic mode.
Loughlin thanked Coast Guard parents for appealing to the city for help.
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U.S. Rep LoBiondo ‘Pleased by Coast Guard’s Decision’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo (R-2nd) on Jan. 24 applauded the U.S. Coast Guard’s decision to continue bus service to Cape May Elementary School. On Wednesday, LoBiondo had petitioned Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen to reconsider the Coast Guard Training Center’s termination of funding school bus transportation for Service dependents to the school.
The reversed decision was announced by the Coast Guard at a local school board meeting earlier tonight.
“I am pleased the Coast Guard reconsidered their decision to continue uninterrupted bus transportation for the children of the men and women stationed at the Training Center to the Cape May Elementary School. The Coast Guard in Cape May has had a long standing and positive relationship with the community and this decision will further that partnership in the coming years,” said LoBiondo.
