Applications for Subscription Busing Now Available

After being pleased with the savings and the results, the Board of Education will continue its subscription busing program next year.

Under the subscription plan, parents pay a yearly fee per child for busing, rather than the school district providing the service for free as it had before the current year.

Next year’s fee will remain the same at $580 per student with a family cap of $1,160. The fee is non-refundable, according to district officials.

Applications for subscription busing must be submitted online this year by Saturday, June 30. Administrators emphasize that any anyone other than new students applying after June 30 will be placed on a waiting list and will not be scheduled for busing before September 17 - if seats are still available on the appropriate bus.

Parents/Guardians must use the online CommunityPass registration and payment system to sign up. Subscription busing information and instructions for creating an account and paying through the system have been mailed to all district families who are eligible for subscription busing.

They are also posted on the school's transportation website. Subscribers may pay by credit card, or they may pay by check after submitting the application online.

The switch to subscription busing was a with lots of school officials said the move and saved the district some money in a tough economy. Families who were schools asked for courtesy busing but were denied.

Children in grades K-8 who live more than two miles from school and those in high school who live more than 2.5 miles from school receive state mandated transportation. But anyone who lives closer than that does not.

Students who paid for busing this year and want to continue must still reapply, officials say.

“Past participation does not guarantee a seat,” according to information sent out by the district Thursday.

Parents can determine whether their children qualify by checking the “Street Eligibility” list in the Transportation webpage at www.millburn.org, or download it at: http://www.edline.net/pages/Millburn_Township_PS/Transportation/Street_Eligibility.

is available for families income is $81,586 a year or less.

 Families interested in applying for the waiver must fill out a waiver application as well as file the federal government’s application for free/reduced meals. Waiver applications must be submitted each year. The form can be found on the Transportation page or here: http://www.edline.net/pages/Millburn_Township_PS/Transportation/WaiverApplication

This form must be returned along with the application for subscription busing, and proof of income.

Bus route information and bus passes will be mailed to families in August. Questions may be emailed to busing@millburn.org or  kathleen.mcgowan@millburn.org.