(July 29, 2011)
To avoid placing undue hardship on its families, Yonkers Public Schools announced that it will restore its previous transportation eligibility requirements and provide busing to prekindergarten – grade 8 students who live one and a half (1.5) miles or more from the school they attend.
Addressing the looming budget shortfall for September 2011, the Board of Education voted in the Spring to restrict transportation eligibility, limiting busing to those PreK-8 students who lived two (2) miles or more from the school they attend. The half-mile change was estimated to save the District over $2 million.
Discussions with community members, however, prompted further review of what the adjustment would mean to young students walking to and from school. “We took a very close look at the routes our students would walk to each of our buildings,” said Superintendent of Schools Bernard P. Pierorazio. “We determined that the financial savings were not worth jeopardizing our students’ ability to safely travel to and from school.”
During his Address to Parents at the Yonkers Riverfront Library on July 20, Superintendent Pierorazio announced the District’s efforts to restore the 1.5 mile transportation limit. He explained that the restitution would be financed by restored funding from the City of Yonkers and the Board of Education coupled with the District’s hold on new textbook purchases.
New for September 2011 is the ability for any high school student to purchase a student MetroCard for $50. In prior years, only high school students who met the District’s transportation eligibility policy (1.5 miles) could purchase a MetroCard at the reduced rate. The District hopes this change will ease the burden for even more families.
