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Toms River board approves 2025–26 transportation routes after parent raises Route 9 drop‑off safety concern
Summary
After a public commenter raised an incident in which a substitute bus reportedly let 17 elementary students off more than a mile from home at an intersection requiring them to cross Route 9, the Toms River board approved the 2025–26 transportation routes and hazardous‑route designations by roll call.
The Toms River Regional School District board approved the 2025–26 transportation routes, including hazardous‑route designations, following a public comment describing a safety incident involving a substitute bus driver.
At the podium, a public commenter identified as Miss Whitaker said she was speaking for a family whose child attends Pine Beach and was being dropped off at a stop more than a mile from home at the intersection where Route 9 merges with Route 166. "They dropped them off at Wave and Tiller, leaving them to have to cross the highway by themselves to get to their house," she said, adding that the family had contacted the school and transportation multiple times. "This is a problem. These parents should have never felt this concerned over her kids getting off of a school bus when they attend elementary school in our district," she said.
The motion to approve the transportation routes and hazardous‑route designations was made by Contessa and seconded by Kidney; the roll call recorded affirmative votes by Matarazzo, Jubert, Contessa, Kidney, Pascarella and Capone. The board approved the routes after the public comment period but did not record further formal direction in the meeting minutes to staff on the individual Pine Beach incident.
The public commenter urged district leaders to contact transportation and reach out to the family she described; the transcript shows the complaint was presented to board members and administrators during the public participation portion of the agenda. The board’s vote formalized the district’s transportation plan for the coming year, including the hazardous‑route designations that determine eligibility and routing for student pickups and drop‑offs.
Next steps noted at the meeting: the board approved the routes and hazardous‑route designations on the record; the transcript records public urging that transportation staff follow up with the family, but does not include a named follow‑up assignment or timeline.
