Buses Scheduled To Stop Runs JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER F From Our RALPH LAUREN Collection Ilaza • Telegraph at Maple Road • Open Mon-Sat 10-6 p.m., Thurs. til 8 p.m. ENTIRE STOCK In-stock Merchandise off LU U) LU CD CC LU LU • COMFORTERS • BEDSPREADS • SHEETS • SLEEP PILLOWS Are tTni • DECO PILLOWS • MATTRESS PADS `''Air ovic, • KITCHEN RUGS • BATH RUGS • TOWELS • SHOWER CURTAINS • BATH ACCESSORIES • WLDE RODS • WINDOW TOPPERS... AND A LOT MORE! OUR BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR! an extra 10"0 on already reduced price 26thAnnivenary Celebration! drapery bouti ue,,,. "When you want the unique!' 10 Since 1969 *26th Anniversary Sale discounts available on in- stock, in store, reular priced merchandise only. Al previais purchases void of price adiLstments. Sale excludes Royal Velvet towels, Seciona & Granada. WALLED LAKE • FARMINGTON • NOVI • CANTON • TROY • STERLING HEIGHTS or Rabbi Nathaniel Lauer, the fact that the Southfield buses would not make runs to Bais Yaakov anymore was more than a professional quandary; it was a personal one. As educational director of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah's girls school, he now had to find a so- lution for the parents of several students who no longer had a way to and from school. But as a parent, he also had to work out plans for his two daughters, both students at the school. "We hope to have something available to the students and we are exploring the possibilities," said Rabbi Lauer, noting that school starts the day after Labor Day. Rabbi Lauer is among a group of about 20 Bais Yaakov parents who aired their concerns about a recent public-school transporta- tion budget cut at the Southfield school-board meeting last week. Prior to the budget cut, stu- dents who lived in the Southfield district but attended Bais Yaakov in Oak Park as well as those who went to Brother Rice and Mari- an high schools in Birmingham were given out-of-district trans- portation to and from the private schools, a service no other pub- lic-school system in the area pro- vided. According to state law, a school system is obligated to transport any student who lives within the district boundaries and attends classes, private school included, within those borders. The law also stipulates that the districts can set limits on how far a child is expected to walk to school, but that distance cannot be greater than 1 1/4 miles. However, a school district is not required to bus children who live within the district to private schools located outside of those boundaries. The Southfield school district provides education and services to over 9,200 students in its dis- trict on a budget of $86.4 million. A little more than $4 million of that budget was allocated last year to transportation. Of that amount, about $50,000 was spent ferrying children to private schools located out of the South- field school district. In the past five years, the school district has grappled with financing, in large part due to Proposal A, a measure which changed the way public schools are financed in the state. Because of limited funds and an inability to increase its rev- enues, the district has clipped portions of the budget. Part of the trimmings included the elimina- tion of 180 positions, the ele- mentary instrumental music program and administrative of- fice staff "There were parents who came to the meeting who thought they were being singled out," said Kenson Siver, spokesperson for the Southfield Public Schools. "But this is one part of a contin- uing tightening of the budget. "The approximate savings (from this cut) would mean that we would have to run one less bus," he said. "That $50,000 is equal to one teacher's salary." Because of state law, the stu- dents who attend Akiva Hebrew Day School, Yeshiva Beth Yehu- Bais Yaakov's administrators are working on a solution. dah and Darchei Torah would not be affected by the cuts. Par- ents of Darchei Torah children who live out of Southfield's district must pay $600 per child per year for private bus service or provide their own transporta- tion. Oak Park Schools do not pro- vide bus service to Bais Yaakov students because most of them live within the 1 1/4 mile radius from the girls school. "My kids lived two houses away from the 1 1/4 mile mark and they still had to walk," said Joyce Zack, president of the Oak Park School Board. According to Mr. Siver, prin- cipals of the schools affected by the cut were informed of the transportation change six to eight weeks ago. Bais Yaakov parents, however, were not informed of the change until last week. Rabbi Lauer said many of the students who attend his school walk to and from classes. Anoth- er portion engage in carpools and a smaller number take the Southfield buses. "I am very thankful for what Southfield schools have done in the past and hope that we will be able to work together with them sometime in the future," Rabbi Lauer said. ❑