Deptford school board gets an earful about abolished subscription busing plan, while Delanco to consider similar move

A week after the Deptford school district dropped a controversial proposal to eliminate courtesy busing for some students to cut transportation costs, parents are keeping up the heat to express their displeasure.

Meanwhile, the Delanco school system is Burlington County is considering a similar move because it is unable to hire enough drivers, said interim Superintendent Leonard Fitts.

More than 200 people packed a Deptford school board meeting Tuesday to pepper board members and Superintendent Kevin Kanauss with questions and concerns about the now-rescinded plan announced Aug. 9 that would have drastically cut the number of students eligible for free bus service and require some parents to pay a $365 annual fee for transportation.

“What is the most disheartening is the lack of transparency,” said parent Colleen Crawford. “Our children come first.”

In a statement to the crowd, Kanauss sought to explain how the district decided to cut busing and then rescinded the decision, and to correct misinformation. For instance, he said the district notified Deptford Mayor Paul Medany a day before the announcement; Medany told The Inquirer in an Aug. 12 article that police were not notified ahead of time about the school district’s plan. .

On Wednesday, Medany said township officials met with Kanauss before the announcement, but were given no details about the busing plan.

“We knew nothing about what they were proposing,” Medany said. “The way they did it was completely unacceptable.”

Kanauss said district officials “thoroughly reviewed” the transportation policy, state regulations, bus stops and hazardous routes before making the decision to change the policy. Transportation would have been provided for students deemed at safety risk, he said.

The district spent $3 million in unbudgeted transportation costs during the 2023-24 school year to provide free busing. The district doesn’t receive state reimbursement for students who live outside the mandatory distance, which under state law is two miles from an assigned elementary or middle school or 2.5 miles from high school.

A growing number of districts have shifted to subscription busing, including Pennsville in Salem County. Others, such as Delanco, are suffering from a national shortage of bus drivers and reducing busing services.

Fitts said a neighboring district had provided Delanco with bus service but that contract was recently terminated. The K-8 district with about 385 students has its own bus, but has been unable to hire a driver, he said.

“It’s not a budget concern,” Fitts said Wednesday. “We’re not the only district dealing with this problem.”

The Delanco school board was scheduled to consider a resolution Wednesday night to eliminate courtesy busing, at least for now, Fitts said. The service would be reinstated if a driver were hired, he said.

» READ MORE: The Deptford school bus crisis is ‘the worst,’ leaving kids late, missing school, or even stranded, parents say

In Deptford, Kanauss said many district buses were running at half-capacity because more parents are taking their students to school. The superintendent said the district decided against seeking a tax increase from voters this year, and had to find funds to cover salary increases and capital projects.

“There needs to be another way to raise money for transportation,” said Jessica Maciolek, whose son is a rising sophomore. “The kids have to be safe, no matter what.”

Several parents, including Lee Sinclair, believed Kanauss had been unfairly targeted for the busing plan. County Commissioner Chris Konawel blamed the state budget, which underfunded some South Jersey school districts.

“Take your anger out where it belongs,” Konawel said. “We are getting hammered from Trenton.”

» READ MORE: Deptford schools change bell schedule again to try to fix school busing crisis

Of Deptford’s 4,200 students, about 1,800 students would have been impacted by eliminating courtesy busing.

“We had to make a tough decision,” said board member James McDevitt, chairman of the transportation committee.

After a passionate response from parents, McDevitt said he began reconsidering the proposed busing change. He said he called the board members, saying he had “cold feet.”

“God forbid one child got hurt. I would never be able to live with myself,” McDevitt said. “I apologize and we will do better.”

Kanauss warned that the district would continue to explore ways to address its financial challenges and that may include decisions about staffing, programs, extracurricular activities, and security vestibules.

“I love this district, the staff, the students, and the community, and look out for its best interests,” Kanauss said. “I will do better in the future in notifying the community of any changes further in advance and including them in the conversations that will have a global impact on Deptford moving forward.”