Cami’s Newark school bus plan: Volunteers needed to keep kids safe.
Cami Anderson, the state-imposed administrator of Newark schools, has developed a shuttle bus operation to move children around the city to meet the demands of her “One Newark” plan to shut down neighborhood schools and launch new charter and other privatized schools. The plan calls for “voluntary” parent and other patrols and relying on businesses, community centers, and churches to ensure the safety of the thousands of children whose lives will be disrupted by Anderson’s scheme.
The plan, a copy of which has been obtained by this site, also will require the involvement of the Newark Police Department, although there is no evidence that Mayor Ras Baraka, who opposes “One Newark” and has demanded Anderson’s resignation, will deploy scarce police resources.
Anderson’s busing plan also would require the cooperation of the county sheriff’s office and Rutgers University.
The shuttle bus operation won’t be ready to go into effect until the end of September at the earliest, weeks after schools open. The bus routes will be “refined” by the first week of October, according to the plan, which has been marked “confidential.”
According to the plan, Anderson is now developing “pick up” and “drop off” locations for the shuttle buses that will transport children from eight schools affected by the “One Newark” or as Anderson puts it:
“The goal of the initiative is to provide students from schools that are charter launches, repurposed, or re-sited with safe and efficient transportation to and from school.”
The actual number and identity of the schools is not really clear because at least one school—Hawthorne Avenue—appears to be included in some sections of the 29-page report but not in others. It also will include so-called “co-located” schools Cami’s Newark school bus plan: Volunteers needed to keep kids safe. | Bob Braun's Ledger: