Reply To: School Board Monitors in Lakewood & East Ramapo

Joseph: The parents must file a claim with the NJ Department of Education if they want to be reimbursed, not the district. Many parents are unaware of it.

ZD: Can the state take over the district and abolish Courtesy Busing? The answer is yes the state can. Is it Legal? The answer MAYBE NO. If the school district at their discretion authorizes policies to provides courtesy busing it has the same rules at regular busing until the district votes to no longer provide the service. The state has never taken over a school district whose board have not been convicted of a crime. If the reason for taking over the district is to deny yeshiva student bus service they are violating both the Voting Right & Civil Rights laws.

“Also School Taxes are local taxes not State Taxes”. Yes The Board of Education is suppose to be local residents not a monitor appointed by the state. Once the states in charge it’s no longer a local tax it’s a state tax they just can’t increase without a local election.

The problem is that if he cuts courtesy busing as he is promising to do if he doesn’t get a budget increase and it goes to court, we will find out once and for all if the state has the right to takeover of a school district without due process is legal. You will note that the state did not remove the Board.