Under State Education Law, the Board of Education is required to provide transportation for resident pupils who attend non-public schools. The provision of this transportation is broken into two categories – students residing under 15 miles from the school attended and students residing over 15 miles from the school attended.
If the distance from home address to the non-public school you are applying to is:
Under 15 Miles:
Transportation is provided to non-public schools when the distance from the center of the pupil’s driveway to the drop-off point at the school is 15 miles or less. The distance is measured by the nearest available publicly maintained route. The parent/guardian is responsible for transportation of the pupil to/from the designated pick-up point.
Over 15 Miles:
Transportation may be provided from a pick-up point when the approved school is over 15 miles from the student’s residence (measured as above) if an approved school is one attended by students living within 15 miles of the school.
Bus routes to non-public schools will be consolidated insofar as practical. Education Law does not contain a maximum length of time that a pupil may spend riding on a school bus. There are many factors to consider that determine what is a reasonable riding time. The Commissioner of Education has held, in Judicial Decisions, that a trip of 1.5 hours, in particular situations, was not unreasonable. In accordance with State Law, the district is obligated to provide economical and efficient transportation, and therefore, will often transport to more than one school on a single trip.
Application for Busing for Transportation
All reasonable means shall continue to be employed to notify district residents and, in particular, parents/guardians of children currently attending private and parochial schools of the relevant deadlines for filing an application for transportation. April 1 is the deadline for non-public school students receiving transportation and who desire to continue for the next school year. The April deadline applies to students living within the district who may be considering non-public attendance for the following school year. An application should be filed, even if the parent/guardian has not made a final decision. The deadline for requests for transportation from new residents of the district is 30 days after establishing residence in the district. The school district continues to permit parents of non-public school children to submit transportation requests for more than one (1) school by the April 1 deadline and/or permit parents to transfer the original request by the April 1 deadline. However, all requests must be finalized no later than May 15 of each school year.
A child must be five years old on or before December 1 of the school year for which busing is requested to be eligible for busing. All children, for whom proper written application is made before the appropriate deadlines as provided for in Education Law and for distances within the limits specified in the Education Law, shall be assured of receiving the requested transportation.
If a parent has made appropriate application for a respective non-public school by April 1 and then, for whatever reason, moves within the school district, a new application for transportation from the new address should be made as soon as possible, and must be made within 30 days of the move to ensure busing. If the mileage exceeds 15 miles, it may become the family's responsibility to transport the child to an appropriate pick-up point.
