Parents press FRHSD over bus stops, long rides and contractor performance

During the public-comment portion of the Freehold Regional board meeting, multiple parents described unsafe and unreliable school bus service and poor district communication.

Daniel Kaplan opened the group of transportation speakers saying, "I think the transportation department has failed us miserably thus far," recounting six days before a bus pickup and nine unanswered messages. Other parents described students left to cross high-speed roads without crosswalks, a recent rear-end crash near a stop, and walk times of 1.5 miles to assigned stops in darkness. One grandparent said her grandson had fallen when a driver pulled away while a child was boarding.

District leaders acknowledged the problems. Mr. Ferrara, who oversees transportation, said the district instituted a call center this year to triage emergent calls but conceded, "we set forth a standard, we didn't meet that," and pledged to increase qualified staffing and improve bus-pass distribution and callbacks. Superintendent Dr. Hazel said route design is complicated because the district spans many municipalities and noted that contractors must be procured under state bid rules; she said the district can dock contractors for missed stops but face limits on removing providers because of industry-wide driver shortages.

Board members asked for a fuller briefing on contracting and accountability and requested specific follow-up on the named stops and contractor performance. The board also approved personnel and contract renewals later in the agenda that included bus-route renewals and a memorandum of agreement with the bus drivers association.