Great Neck parents urge reversal of new bus routes, cite safety and tracking gaps

Hundreds of Great Neck parents and private‑school families told the Great Neck Public Schools Board of Education on Aug. 28 that recent changes to the district’s student transportation — including new corner pickup stops, tighter mileage limits and reductions in door‑to‑door “courtesy” busing — create safety risks and logistical hardships.

Why it matters: The district’s routing changes affect students who attend both public and nonpublic schools and, parents said, disproportionately affect working families, households with multiple schools, and younger students or those with disabilities who previously received house‑to‑house service.

Board action and context: The district informed the public that recent routing changes followed internal reviews and third‑party audits and that administrators have sought legal advice about offering a voter referendum to change mileage limits. Dr. Bossert, a district official, told the meeting the district’s “safety, health and welfare of all students, both public and private, are at the foremost of thought whenever decisions are made in Great Neck Public Schools.” He also said the district has a GPS tracking app for larger buses and is pressing the transportation vendor to make the same technology available for smaller buses.

What parents said: Speakers from across Great Neck described similar concerns during the meeting’s open‑time comment period. ‘‘I pay enough school taxes that bus I assumed busing is included … to have that option totally gone for me to lose 2½ hours of work a week … is not fair,’’ said a parent who identified herself as Ms. Sadian. Multiple parents asked the district to reinstate courtesy busing, or at minimum to provide reliable real‑time bus tracking. Several parents described buses that arrived late or not at all, cited confusing vendor responses and said they sometimes learned of delays only after children arrived home.

Safety concerns: Several speakers emphasized safety, saying corner stops force young children to wait alone at intersections, sometimes in darkness or poor weather. ‘‘My 5‑year‑old who has a disability lost transportation to school without any notice … his only option right now is to cross Lakeville Road,’’ said Gina George, a parent who asked the board to restore individualized service for students with disabilities. Other parents described near‑misses and one parent recounted a serious nonbus motor‑vehicle crash involving a child who had been hurrying to a pickup.

Vendor reliability and technology: Parents repeatedly criticized the subcontracted carrier’s reliability and the existing “Where’s My Bus” app, saying it freezes, requires repeated logins and does not always reflect live bus locations. Multiple commenters said the lack of timely tracking forces them to wait outside for long periods or drives families to use cars, worsening traffic.

Equity and regulatory questions: Several parents urged a referendum to restore local mileage limitations; one speaker noted the transcript of the meeting that state statute gives the district discretion to change mileage limits only with voter approval. The board said it has sought counsel on that option and intends to pursue next steps.

District response and next steps: The administration asked parents to submit individual site concerns to the Transportation Department for review; the district said staff can and have adjusted some stops after on‑site reviews. The district also said it has requested the vendor provide GPS tracking for smaller buses and that pupil personnel services will handle individual requests for special‑education transportation or temporary 504 accommodations.

What’s next: Board members asked for patience as reviews continue; the board scheduled its next regular meeting for Sept. 17, where parents and administrators may provide updates. The district encouraged parents to keep communicating directly with Transportation and Pupil Personnel Services so individual cases can be evaluated.

Ending: Many parents left the meeting urging more immediate changes. The board did not reverse the routing decisions at the Aug. 28 meeting but said it would revisit specific stop placements and pursue technological and procedural fixes as they become available.