SOMSD busing question
I grew up there and I never heard it called that. Weird.
ETA: My father also grew up there, I'll have to ask him, as he has decades more experience in that neighborhood than I do.
ETA: My sister went to Washington School back in the 70's before it was sold, by the time I was school age it had been sold to the state and I believe it was called the school for the deaf, or something like that. It hasn't gone by the name Washington School in a long time, though I hear they may reopen it as a grade school again soon.
It is opening in September as a district wide 5th grade school. It will still be called the Washington School.
So it seems that my father does remember the area being called the Washington neighborhood. But he apparently went to the original Washington School on Millburn Ave, which is now an office building. And my older sister went to the "new" Washington school, but that school was short lived. Once I was old enough to go to school there was no Washington school, which is probably why I don't recall that area having that name, since referring to a neighborhood after a school that no longer exists just doesn't make sense. Though for those old enough to remember when there was a neighborhood school those nick names die hard.
Gilgul said:
It is opening in September as a district wide 5th grade school. It will still be called the Washington School.
Why not make it a regular grade school for neighborhood children instead of just fifth grade? If anything it would mean LESS busing costs for the district. Busing fifth graders there from every neighborhood means there are plenty of students who will get mandatory busing paid for by the town. Move all the "Washington neighborhood" students to Washington school, keep the fifth graders in their respective schools, and the amount of busing the town has to pick up the tab for will decrease. My grandmother (Millburn resident from 1952 until she moved to assisted living in 2008) always did maintain that the school district had their heads up their rear ends, now I'm starting to understand why 
ETA: She was also adamant that the families in our part of town were always getting short shrift. Considering that first they sold the neighborhood school, and then later rezoned to move those kids halfway across town, and now are reopening the school but won't even give that neighborhood a real neighborhood school again, I now think that maybe she wasn't so paranoid after all 
I actually very much like the idea of a 5th grade school. Practically making the Washington School an elementary school would have required a total redistricting of elementary schools to balance the numbers and no one really wanted to have to go through that. But to me 5th graders are an awkward fit into a school with K to 4. Plus going to middle school was traumatic for many 6th graders because they were thrown together for the first time in a big school building. The 5th grade school will act as a way station. 5th graders from around the town will get to know each other a year earlier in a less overwhelming and stressful environment. Then they can move as a group to middle school.
The move has mostly been very well received and trepidation has been much reduced by outreach and active efforts to build a Washington School community and culture.
How convenient for everyone except the kids in that section of town who are expected to walk (as in the example given up thread) not even to the next closest school but cross town...
Well think of the positive. Now in 5th grade they will be closer to school than anyone else. And they have always had an easy walk to the high school and a pretty easy walk to the middle school. So 8 of 13 years they are well positioned to walk.
Regarding making it a neighborhoood elementary: Not enough kids in the neighborhood to fill all grades of the school (which is why it was closed years ago) plus it wouldn't alleviate over crowding in any of the other schools (except Wyoming where over crowding is not an issue). They would have to re-district the entire town which would completely piss people off.
Also Wyoming School is not "halfway across town" if the kids in the Washington section can't even get free bussing there due to proximity. There are plenty of other families in town who live closer to an elementary school for which they are not zoned (the Washington kids are closer to South Mountain than Wyoming).
wendyn said:
Regarding making it a neighborhoood elementary: Not enough kids in the neighborhood to fill all grades of the school (which is why it was closed years ago) plus it wouldn't alleviate over crowding in any of the other schools (except Wyoming where over crowding is not an issue). They would have to re-district the entire town which would completely piss people off.
Also Wyoming School is not "halfway across town" if the kids in the Washington section can't even get free bussing there due to proximity. There are plenty of other families in town who live closer to an elementary school for which they are not zoned (the Washington kids are closer to South Mountain than Wyoming).
Understood. But the child in the example (a first grader I believe) lived near the Springfield border yet was expected to go NOT to South Mountain but Wyoming. That's quite a hike for a lone tot...
Every elementary school in Millburn except South Mountain (which is the smallest school and prior to the moving of the 5th grade was like all the schools at capacity) had children who fall into the over one mile but less than mandatory busing eligible.
By freeing up capacity at South Mountain, making the Washington school the 5th grade school, actually might allow the town to move some of the K-4 kids from Wyoming to South Mountain without triggering a need for a major redistricting. People in the area effected should pursue that with the BOE.
Keep in mind that every dollar that goes to additional busing will come from something else. Every year our school system has to cut overhead, services, and/or manpower because of the funding mechanism. If you insist on additional busing, something else will be reduced or cut. The harsh truth of our current situation.
Incremental busing is small potatoes to the opening of a new school (as Milburn has done and Maplewood/South Orange is considering). A new school needs a Principle and probably an assistant. Plus a whole host of support staff. It may or may not need additional teachers (the new Washington School in Millburn really did not need additional teaching staff)
yahooyahoo said:
Keep in mind that every dollar that goes to additional busing will come from something else. Every year our school system has to cut overhead, services, and/or manpower because of the funding mechanism. If you insist on additional busing, something else will be reduced or cut. The harsh truth of our current situation.
If Millburn used the Washington school as a neighborhood school, there would be less busing. Sending every fifth grader in the town to that school guarantees that there will be students who qualify for free busing.
wendyn said:
Regarding making it a neighborhoood elementary: Not enough kids in the neighborhood to fill all grades of the school (which is why it was closed years ago)
Yeah, in 1970 during the height of the baby bust. Certainly not today
Back to my original question, I went Thursday, two visits since the doctor had forgotten to sign one of the forms. After returning with the completed form I was then told to come back today to speak with the woman who does the registration (had I known she wasn't available last Thursday I wouldn't have made two visits that day, and would have returned with the last form today, but anyway...)
So today I waited over an hour. Guy in line in front of me informed me that he had been there well over an hour. Woman behind me in line told me she had waited over an hour and a half this morning, and at that point still had multiple people ahead of her, so she left and came back this afternoon. It's crazy that they only see people from 9-12:45 M-Th, with the waits it seems that there are more than a few people trying to register children.
So after I wait over an hour I finally get in, and am told they don't know anything yet, I'll have an answer either later this week, or early next week. Annoying, since the only reason I went down there in person today was because I was told to.
To say that the registration system is inefficient is an understatement to say the least.
Actually there still is not. The Washington School is close to the border and pretty close to South Mountain. So there are not nearly enough residential units that are in Milburn and that are not actually closer to another school to fill the Washington school as an elementary school. Especially since part of the area is the only area in Millburn zoned light industrial.
As I have said, the Washington School as a 5th grade school has been very well received in the town and the approval and enthusiasm has increased as the plans have crystallized.
I was referring to SOMSD, the topic of this thread.
spontaneous said:
yahooyahoo said:
Keep in mind that every dollar that goes to additional busing will come from something else. Every year our school system has to cut overhead, services, and/or manpower because of the funding mechanism. If you insist on additional busing, something else will be reduced or cut. The harsh truth of our current situation.
If Millburn used the Washington school as a neighborhood school, there would be less busing. Sending every fifth grader in the town to that school guarantees that there will be students who qualify for free busing.
wendyn said:
Regarding making it a neighborhoood elementary: Not enough kids in the neighborhood to fill all grades of the school (which is why it was closed years ago)
Yeah, in 1970 during the height of the baby bust. Certainly not today
I have been informed that apparently I don't sign him up for busing, they do it automatically if there is room? This doesn't make sense, and also doesn't agree with the B of Ed website which states I need to sign him up. Other parents sending their child to Seth Boyden, did you have to fill out the form, or have they changed the process and just not updated the website?
The parent or guardian must complete the Public School Transportation Application Form each year for each student. Eligible students will not receive a Bus Pass until the Form is completed and submitted by the due date to your School’s Office, the Transportation Department or the Registration Office. Please provide an Emergency Contact and Emergency Phone.
Public School Transportation Application Forms must be received by June 15, 2012. Applications received after June 15 will be assigned transportation if eligible and only if space is available. The deadline to submit applications will be extended after June 15 only for students to attend the Demonstration School at Seth Boyden. The process to apply for transportation will be provided when notified of the acceptance to the program.*
The district will notify the parent/guardian of eligibility over the summer before school opens. New students registered during the school year will be notified within five working days after the Transportation Department receives the application. The parent or guardian is responsible for getting the child to school until notified in writing whether transportation by the district is available.
Students eligible for transportation will receive a Bus Pass card identifying the assigned stop and estimated pickup and drop-off times. The student must have this Bus Pass card available to show the bus driver.
I submitted the Transportation Application form when we transferred to Seth Boyden.
It's better to submit the form even if you didn't need to, then to not submit the form if you were supposed to.
sprout said:
I submitted the Transportation Application form when we transferred to Seth Boyden.
It's better to submit the form even if you didn't need to, then to not submit the form if you were supposed to.
That's kind of what I was thinking. Everything says to submit it, but I received an email saying they would do it. I'm already a nervous nelly, receiving contradictory information isn't doing anything to help calm my nerves
Remember how I said I was told that they would handle signing him up for busing? And I didn't mishear it, as this was in an email, so it is in writing. Yeah, the above people who said i needed to sign up were right. The transportation people said they never received anything from the registration people, and they didn't understand why I was told that since it is the parent's responsibility to apply.
Good thing I didn't take her word on it and wait until school started to check into this. 
I got my kid's bus pass (with bus pickup/dropoff times) in the mail last week, and a second letter with an invite to the SB Kindergarten & new family picnic.
I received the letter for the picnic. I didn't receive anything about busing. I called the transportation dept and they had nothing on file for him, so I went down and took care of it. I'm annoyed because I specifically wrote asking what steps I needed to do to sign him up for busing, and I was given a response, IN WRITING, that THEY would arrange it.
sprout said:
I got my kid's bus pass (with bus pickup/dropoff times) in the mail last week, and a second letter with an invite to the SB Kindergarten & new family picnic.
Understood. Just letting you know the status of the transportation process at this point.
So, after going to the transportation dept and filling out their form I have now received his bus pass. Issue is finally resolved
ElizMcCord said:
A bit off thread, but I met a mom at my kid's daycare who's 5 year old is starting kindergarten in Maplewood this fall. She said the classes are so full, she still doesn't know which school her child will be placed in. She believed that the influx of families into SOMA was stretching the class sizes, while shrinking available slots for new enrollees. Is this what's happening?
Yes, this is exactly what is happening.
https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=286
From the link, Kindergarten is closed in South Mountain, Tuscan, Clinton, and Marshall. I don't know if the annex is considered part of South Mountain, and therefore closed, or if the annex is considered separate and still accepting kindergartners. Basically, it appears that the ONLY school that is accepting kindergartners is Seth Boyden. Five grade schools with kindergarten, and only one is accepting kindergartners. This doesn't bode well for down the road.
Meanwhile, a neighbor down the street is applying for a variance to turn his single family home into a two family home (no comment about the fact that the a55hat has already done the conversion and is seeking the variance after the fact so he can legally rent it out). Yeah, increasing the density of our towns is just what we need when we don't even have enough space for the kids currently living here.
And I understand that turning Montrose into a pre-school saves the school system money, but as there is almost no room for the kids in the current schools, not using the building for a grade school may not have been the best idea. I know Montrose is a small school, but when you have four schools closed to kindergartners, and two schools completely closed to all new registrations, every potentially available classroom counts.
Earlier I mentioned my friend with children in two different elementary schools, not by choice. Today was her first day dealing with this situation. It didn't go well. She doesn't know how she will be able to handle this long term, as the two schools have almost the same start time. Considering the traffic around the schools, getting in the drop off line at the first school, dropping one child off, then fighting traffic over to the other school, getting in that drop off line, and dropping the second child off, just isn't feasible. In short, it's a mess. The whole overcrowding issue is a mess.
I wonder if there's a system where incoming kindergarten siblings can get a spot higher up the list so that the elementary kids from the same family can attend the same school. Sounds fair to me. Basically it sounds like your friend will have to hire our one of her drop offs/pickups.
spontaneous
Earlier I mentioned my friend with children in two different elementary schools, not by choice. Today was her first day dealing with this situation. It didn't go well. She doesn't know how she will be able to handle this long term, as the two schools have almost the same start time. Considering the traffic around the schools, getting in the drop off line at the first school, dropping one child off, then fighting traffic over to the other school, getting in that drop off line, and dropping the second child off, just isn't feasible. In short, it's a mess. The whole overcrowding issue is a mess.
Carpooling is a possibility. Set up one carpool for each child and drive for each pool on alternate days.
ElizMcCord said:
I wonder if there's a system where incoming kindergarten siblings can get a spot higher up the list so that the elementary kids from the same family can attend the same school. Sounds fair to me. Basically it sounds like your friend will have to hire our one of her drop offs/pickups.
spontaneous
Earlier I mentioned my friend with children in two different elementary schools, not by choice. Today was her first day dealing with this situation. It didn't go well. She doesn't know how she will be able to handle this long term, as the two schools have almost the same start time. Considering the traffic around the schools, getting in the drop off line at the first school, dropping one child off, then fighting traffic over to the other school, getting in that drop off line, and dropping the second child off, just isn't feasible. In short, it's a mess. The whole overcrowding issue is a mess.
spontaneous said:
Earlier I mentioned my friend with children in two different elementary schools, not by choice. Today was her first day dealing with this situation. It didn't go well. She doesn't know how she will be able to handle this long term, as the two schools have almost the same start time. Considering the traffic around the schools, getting in the drop off line at the first school, dropping one child off, then fighting traffic over to the other school, getting in that drop off line, and dropping the second child off, just isn't feasible. In short, it's a mess. The whole overcrowding issue is a mess.
If it were me, I would move the other child into the school with space in order to avoid having to do that and to avoid having to deal with two PTAs, separate fundraisers, Back to School Nights, etc. I only had two years with both of my kids in the same school, but it was SO much easier then! (And I was able to participate in a higher quality way as a parent volunteer.)
Her hesitation on moving the older child is that she has been at her current school for a few years now and has made friends. I understand that sometimes kids have to go to a new such, maybe because of a move or some other reason, but she doesn't want to disrupt her older child if at all possible.
The neighborhood adjacent to the high school. Bordered by Main Street on the east, Millburn Ave on the north, the high school on the west, and the border with Springfield on the south.