Julie Bridal of 189 Main Street addressed the South River Board of Education during public comment to propose a "bike bus" program and to raise a concern about morning drop-off times at the primary school.

Bridal described programs she had researched, including an initiative in Portland and a larger example in Montclair, New Jersey. "They started with a few kids, and now they're up to, like, 300 kids biking to school once a week," she said, and suggested South River consider a small pilot or informational meeting to gauge interest.

Bridal noted implementation would require coordination with police, volunteer leaders and route planning and said safety requirements such as helmets were typically enforced in other programs. "The great part about this ... is they start with the younger schools, like primary and elementary school. Parents are involved, kids are involved, everybody has a volunteer position in this so that everybody bikes to school safely," she said.

On a separate point, Bridal asked why the primary school provides only a 10-minute window between exterior door opening and the start of school, while other schools allow 15 minutes. She described congestion and additional entries through the front door when officers leave their posts: "... by 8:40, officer Joe has to go inside. Officer John has to go inside, and then he's stuck going to the front of the door, letting in, like, 50 kids that don't make it in the that 10 minute slot."

The superintendent (referred to in the meeting as the person to contact) and the board said they would follow up. The superintendent asked Bridal to email the information; a board member said Dr. Zertz (spelled in the transcript as "Doctor Zertz") would look into the proposal if Bridal emailed the material. The superintendent's office was also identified as the appropriate contact to discuss staffing and arrival procedures at the primary school.

There was no board action to adopt a bike-bus program during the meeting; the item was presented as public comment and logged for potential follow-up.

Meeting context: the board opened general public comment prior to entering closed session and allowed agenda-only public comments earlier; Bridal spoke during the open public-comment period and was asked to provide materials by email for staff review.