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Time to restore transportation for Paterson students | Paterson Times

Time to restore transportation for Paterson students

July 13, 2017 by To the Editor
letter-to-editor-hq

In the past month, the uncertainty created by the announcement of the removal of courtesy transportation for 491 students attending the Passaic County Technical Institute and 199 other students attending schools within the district has led us to organize parents to ask for continuity of a service that has been present for decades.

This can’t be a financial decision, it’s a life changing decision.

Recently, approval of the NJ state budget will grant an additional $4.3 million compared to the previous year to the Paterson School District. Additionally, the superintendent of the Passaic County Technical Institute agreed to cover half of the transportation costs incurred by students who go to PCTI from our city.

Finally, the retirement of Superintendent Dr. Donnie Evans has opened the doors to two women who have developed professionally in our district and who know extensively the needs of the students and our community. They will carry out the transformations necessary to solve the transportation problem that has the potential to end in a tragedy for any student who walks through the dangerous stretch of Preakness Avenue.

We welcome the promotion to Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of Eileen Shafer and Susana Peron, who have served this district for the past 25 and 31 years respectively.

It is time to bring relief and tranquility to parents living with the uncertainty of putting their children at risk while attending the Paterson and PCTI schools. We are confident that we have the right people at the helm of the district and we ask them to present a solution to this uncertainty at the same time that we wish them success in their new positions.

Pedro Rodriguez
Former school board member and mayoral candidate

  • ssdsus

    So instead of using the money to hire back staff to city schools, we should use funds to provide busing we don't need to. Then we wonder why the schools are so broken and the district is in debt. No other town is providing this busing. So we are worried about students from Paterson not making it safely to PCTI, but not about students from Haledon or Prospect Park, who aren't getting bused. What is the data to support this need for busing? How many Haledon and Prospect Park students are hit by cars each year? Is it more than zero? If you are going to talk about how dangerous it is, at the very least pretend this is a news site and provide some data to back it up.

    • Paterson Parent

      I can only talk about Paterson which the town I know. I invite you to walk up Preakness Avenue to PCTI and please reply how safe you felt without sidewalks. Try to do it now, since traffic is low and I would like you to make it back to this website in one piece. If you want to talk about other towns, please be my guest and push for additional transportation in other towns. With the extra money the district is receiving, they can rehire staff and provide transportation.

      • ssdsus

        Those exact same roads are being used by Prospect Park and Haledon students to get to PCTI. So again I ask, if it is so dangerous, what are the statistics on students from those towns being hit by cars, etc?

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