On May 15 of 2007 the following propostion was voted upon as part of the annual Newburgh School District Board of Education election, and budget vote:
Proposition III -- Student Transportation Limits:
Shall the Newburgh Enlarged City School District change the current transportation limits of 0.9 for students in grades K-6 and 1.0 mile for students in grades 7-12, and provide transportation to all students in grades K-12 to the school they legally attend, up to 18 miles, effective the 2007-2008 school year, at an additional cost of $1,015,632 for the 2007-2008 school year?
The voting results indicate 1,009 votes in favor and 1,299 votes against this proposition.
This proposition was poorly written and deceptive.
The proposition has two main points, that current transportation limits be changed and that transportation be provided to all. The proposition does not explain whether the transportation limits are to be increased or decreased or by how much; it merely states that they are to be changed. The proposition does not explain whether the "up to 18 miles" limit is a change or not.
The proposition is deceptive in this way--suppose that you are completely happy with the school transportation arrangements in effect during the prior school year and you don't want to see anything changed. Which way do you vote? You would expect that voting against the proposition to "change the current transportation limits" would be a vote to keep things as they are, but that is not the case.
The proposition failed to make clear that in prior years, the district was already providing transportation to students residing closer to school than the minimum distance. The "additional cost" was already being paid in prior years.
In summary, the proposition asked the public to vote about a change. However, neither the current situation nor the nature of the change were specified. The proposition included the current minimum transport distance, which was not being enforced, and it included a proposed maximum transport distance. No explanation of how or which of these limits was to be changed was given.
Why does this matter?
According the this June 2008 press release this school year the minimum distance will be enforced for students in the City of Newburgh. Letters are apparently in the mail to affected families in the City of Newburgh. September 4 is the first day of school.
Transportation was illegal to begin with
Re: your assessment of the wording of the 2007 NECSD Transportation Proposition - The reason the proposition needed to be voted on was because the district was illegally transporting students. If a school district wished to bus students closer than the state law allows the district first must get the approval from the voters of the distict. NECSD was transporting student living less than the law permitted illegally without the voters' approval. The taxpayer was paying for busing students who were never legally permitted to be bused. The vote was NO because of the added cost to taxpayers and to the fact that children should be walking more for their health and to combat obesity.
As for your claim that "No explanation of how or which of these limits was to be changed was given." is partly due to your failure to ask questions before the vote and the district's history of not providing much in the way of details.
NOTE: NECSD did continue to bus students, illegally, during the 2007-08 school year in violation of the voters NO vote and NYS law until they were caught.
maybe
Good points. Thanks for the comment.
I'm not sure whether it was legal or not. There does seem to be some provision in the law for grandfathering in transportation that was provided the previous year. To be specific section 2503 of the State Education Law, item 12 B. But that is of no relevance now.
It was certainly an enormous mistake to continue to bus with no explanation after the no vote.
The "Laws of New York" are available at http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/
school bus issues
What I don't understand is why this has only been applied to students who reside in the city of Newburgh. It doesn't apply to town of New Windsor students or Town of Newburgh students. I thought we were all in the same school district as our children can go to any school they apply to in this district--for example if you live in New Windsor and want your child to attend Balmville Elementary in the Town of Newburgh and they are picked in the lotto they can.attend. Why after this vote (which I remember having voted on and not really understanding the wording) was the change applied only to the students who live in the city--were they deemed to be the most obese (sarcasm)? Are town of New Windsor and town of Newburgh students who live under a mile from their elementary schools still getting the bus? I just want there to be a clear investigation of this and some explanations. My son is a walker as we live a block from the school and I wouldn't put him on the bus but I have seen this have a huge impact on the school. For instance, the first few days of school for walkers was total chaos since the school had never handled this huge number of walkers before. Also, on the first day of school to pick up your child who is a walker it took from 1-3 hours. You have to sign in and show your id and people were lined up down the street and around the block in the hot son--some with other little toddlers trying to keep them on the sidewalk instead of being hit by a car--others with tiny infants and no shade. Also, no one knew this was going to be such a huge influx of people in such heat so no one had appropriate provisions (like water with them) for the wait and you didn't want to lose your spot in line. The pick up has gone a bit smoother now but it is still a process that takes quite a long time. This has caused many problems for the students and their families.