PINE BUSH – At the Conference of the New York State School Board Associations, held on October 17 at the Sheraton Hotel in New York City, the resolution on bus seat size and school aid was turned down. This isn't a trivial matter, especially in the Pine Bush School District with its 6,500 students bused over 201 routes, over more than two million miles a year.

The resolution attacked the prevailing rule that the state allots one 12-inch seat to each and every student on a bus, regardless of whether they are in grade 1 or 12.

Roseanne Sullivan, Vice-President of the Board of Education, said, "The convention was all abuzz regarding our golden yellow rulers depicting the 'Size Matters' logo. I think many school board members from other districts were just hearing about the discrepancy in how to maximize transportation aid for the first time. It's a formula that has been around for so long that when I asked our Commissioner of Ed. about it last year, he didn't have an answer."

Sullivan and the other Pine Bush board members who attended the convention did a good job of distributing the yellow rulers and stirring up interest in the topic. But with the interest came opposition.

"Towards the end of our allotted time, with only two to three minutes left on the clock, one school board delegate from the Resolutions Committee and one school board delegate from Long Island spoke against it."

Sullivan noted an interesting fact. "The school board delegate from the committee was asked to speak on behalf of the committee by the Government Relations director of NYSSBA. It was the only time (out of 29 resolutions) where a staff member asked a committee member to speak."

That committee member then focused on the state's financial woes. The delegate from Long Island then echoed those sentiments.

"Despite that," said Sullivan, "the vote looked almost split, as there were no tallies collected."

Sullivan says she understands this sort of opposition.

"I'm sure they've heard stories about parents who complain of bus issues, but it's just not on their own priority lists. Probably because they aren't the ones who have to tell those parents that it is not a financial priority."

This angers everyone on the Pine Bush School Board. "The fact that we have to tell parents that safeguarding their child's well being on the bus is not a priority over anything else is a sin," said Sullivan. "We have to make our legislators accountable for it."

And so, the campaign goes on. The Pine Bush School Board is united on this issue. "Politicians will most likely tell us to take it from local taxpayers," said Sullivan. "But we'll have to tell them that our taxpayers are broke and disgusted. It's the state's responsibility to provide safety, at the very least."

"We will storm ahead with our campaign to ensure that our presently elected officials are on the same page as our parents are," said Sullivan.

"Currently, we are also calling on our PTAs and school bus company to aid us in this advocacy. We've discussed a letter and media campaign and will be taking action in the near future."