Something feels really wrong about the Busing Issue and We Should ALL Demand Answers
Before I get into this I want to be super clear that my family does not use Courtesy or Subscription Busing and that if we did I would feel just as strongly – because at this point this whole thing stinks. I also had most of this article written before the meeting last night but I wanted to give our BOE just one more opportunity to set the record straight – they failed.
Reasonable questions need to be asked about whether this busing issue is a setup for next year’s election.
In this clip of the 08/10/2023 Meeting, Ms. Khanna still needs clarity from District Administration after multiple attempts (including numerous attempts in this meeting) on what should be an easy ask.
It’s a simple set of questions whose information should be readily available from a Superintendent informing families that services are cut weeks before school starts.
There are no defined criteria for free courtesy busing.
There are no hard numbers.
Someone somewhere is just deciding who gets a free ride, who has to pay, and who is shit out of luck on something every taxpayer is funding.
None of this can be explained after numerous emails demanding clarity to these questions are either unanswered or met with obfuscation.
Two sitting BOE Members cannot get answers to these same questions.
So the question on political motivation needs to be asked – because it is fundamentally important.
How in the world is this current situation possible when families who are paying for busing are facing cuts just weeks before school starts?
Earlier in the year, Dr. Foregger offered a possible solution to the problem: lower the overall costs by charging everyone.
As usual, the Administration and Majority ignored him.
Why is the District willing to forgo $337,000 in revenue to benefit some families while at the same time cutting services to families willing to pay a $1000 fee?
And why are they so willing to prolong this? Why were the cuts decided in this way behind closed doors in the Finance Committee?
Is it more important to make the people who know what they are doing and what questions to ask look bad than avoiding these recurring nightmares families find themselves in due to arrogant leadership that refuses to use honest data in its decision-making and discussions with the public?
Driver shortage is an issue, but it is NOT the issue here.
For whatever reason, the BOE majority is comfortable with developing long-term plans to solve the problem while school doors open in two weeks.
Free Courtesy Busing- with no criteria and no precise numbers two weeks before the start of school, while a small number of families willing to pay for the service get pushed out. This same BOE that was so willing to dip into District coffers last year to file an ethics complaint against another BOE Member that is now largely dismissed and has led to those same BOE Members needing District funds to defend themselves in the aftermath.
As it stands, the courtesy busing arrangement leads to ~ 337 students or roughly 700 votes.
What does this smell like to you?
It is not just a fair question – at this point it is necessary.
Or maybe, it’s just another thing that is too “complex” for us to understand.
Clip of one of the many instances where Ms. Khanna and Dr. Foregger ask simple questions but get no response:
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