East Rockaway to pay for private school busing

East Rockaway residents who send their kids to certain private schools can breathe a sigh of relief. After intense debate over how the district would bus its students to Kellenberg Memorial, Chaminade High School and Sacred Heart Academy, district officials said they found the money to privately bus them in the 2010-11 school year.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is cutting two bus lines — the N65 and N66 — this September, and the East Rockaway School District uses those two lines to bus 62 students to the three aforementioned schools. The district was faced with the decision of finding the money to privately bus them, or have students take two — and in some cases three — public buses to get to school, with those going to Kellenberg transferring at the Hempstead Bus Terminal and getting dropped off about a quarter-mile from their school. Chaminade students would have to transfer at a Jericho Turnpike stop, while Sacred Heart students would still get bused directly to school, just on a route with more stops. Currently, students are bused directly to and from school.

Kellenberg is located in Uniondale, while Sacred Heart is in Hempstead and Chaminade is in Mineola.

According to Dr. Roseanne Melucci, superintendent of schools, the idea of students transferring in Hempstead was a concern. "As a public school system, we serve the community and it is our responsibility to transport our non-public school students," she said. "We are always concerned about the safety of all our children."

Marcy Tannenbaum, assistant superintendent for finances, said that it will cost the district anywhere from $55,000 to $59,000 to yellow bus its students to Kellenberg, Chaminade and Sacred Heart. She explained that district officials found some unused funds in the current year's budget, and instead of using it for some small maintenance projects in 2010-11, it will use it for busing. She added that children transferring in Hempstead was not something the district wanted. "It is clearly a safety issue," Tannenbaum said.