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Board places transportation proposition on May ballot to preserve current bus routes
Summary
The Locust Valley board authorized a ballot proposition to formally change transportation eligibility to a zero‑mile limit so the district can continue providing busing for students currently served; board members said the change preserves roughly 150 students’ routes at no additional cost and the resolution passed unanimously.
The Locust Valley Central School District board voted to place a transportation proposition on the May 19, 2026 ballot to formally reduce distance-based eligibility cutoffs to a zero-mile limit and thereby preserve existing bus routes.
Board members said a consultant review showed roughly 150 students have been receiving district busing that, strictly interpreted, exceeds the district's written limits. The board president said the proposal simply aligns district policy with current practice and "maintain[s] those bus routes... at no additional cost to the district." The board adopted a resolution to present the question to voters and directed the district clerk to include the text in the legal notice for the election.
Why it matters: under New York Education Law section 3635 the state sets minimum transportation obligations; districts may adopt more generous local rules but must use the proposition process to change transportation policy. Board members said enforcing the written cutoffs would remove service for about 150 students and could create safety concerns for students who would be left to walk along roads without sidewalks.
Budget and operations: presenters told the board the buses are already running and routing; preserving current practice would not add new routes or new operating costs this year. The board said the consultant’s routing work also helped reduce transportation costs by about $1 million this year through operational changes and vendor oversight.
What the ballot language will ask: the resolution directs voters to approve changing district transportation eligibility effective in the 2026–27 school year by reducing the existing 1/2‑mile limit for grades 1–5 and the 1‑mile limit for grades 6–12 to a new zero‑mile standard, "at no additional cost to the district," as read into the record by the board president.
Next steps: the board placed the proposition on the May 19, 2026 ballot after a unanimous vote. The district clerk will publish the legal notice including the full proposition text and the community will decide the change in the budget election.
