Parents press Fort Lee board over bus stops, late notices and limited seats

At a Fort Lee Board of Education meeting, multiple parents urged the district to restore a dropped bus stop and to improve communications about routing and seat availability as the new school year began.

A parent who identified themself in the record as Erdeerich described children walking “25 minutes” in the morning and called the walk “a little bit, dangerous,” saying that his wife has a disability and that family transportation is not always possible. The parent asked the board and business office to reinstate an earlier stop that served Bergen Academy students.

Board staff said the district contracts bus routes and sends rosters to private companies, which then propose stops based on overall route logistics. The business administrator told parents the district had emailed the bus vendor to ask whether an additional stop could be accommodated and that the company expected to reply by Sept. 9. The district also said it had begun a wait list for seats and prioritized students who live at least 1.7 miles from campus.

Superintendent Dr. Kravitz and other administrators acknowledged communication gaps tied to a recently adopted routing tool and internal account access problems. The district said it began using a new mileage and routing system (Transfinder) in March and that staff were still uploading and geocoding student records, which contributed to delayed notices. A district official said, “I do apologize for the delays,” and said parents first eligible by distance were contacted before a broader email went to other families.

Parents at the meeting pressed for faster responses, clearer timelines and better phone and email follow-up; one parent said school begins Thursday and described the short notice as creating “a lot of urgency” for working families. Board members said they would seek a fuller update from the business office and the vendor after the Sept. 9 vendor response and would report back at the next board meeting.

The board opened the public comment period and heard several other residents raise similar concerns about early bus start times, seat limits and the process used to create stops. Board members encouraged parents to follow up directly with transportation staff and to return to the next meeting if their situation remained unresolved.