Parents and advocates press Great Neck board on bus service and accommodations process

Two public commenters used the meeting’s open-time period to press the board on service and policy issues.

Grama Malka told the board she was "here, unfortunately, to speak about transportation again," describing calendar days when private schools are in session and Great Neck schools are not—and saying that the district did not provide busing on those days. She cited the district’s full budget as $289,000,000 and said private-school transportation represents roughly 2.36% of that total. "There are a lot of days on the school calendar where private schools have school and public school doesn't, and they we're not getting any bus transportation," she said, adding that some dates listed (Dec. 24, Dec. 26, Dec. 31, Nov. 28) were not legal holidays and had previously had busing.

Ivan Chu, a public commenter concerned with special education, urged the board to revisit its accommodations policy and make the process for seeking supports accessible. "By refusing to update its accommodations policy, it sends a clear message to students with disabilities and their families," Chu said, and added that he found the district’s Office of Special Education page lacking references to "accommodation" or 504 procedures.

Neither public commenter received a recorded substantive response during open time in the transcript; the board moved on to scheduled reports and agenda items after the public comments.

Next steps: the board did not take an immediate vote or issue a directive in response to these comments during the meeting; both topics could be picked up at committee level or in future board discussion.