Hasidic group sues for busing to religious schools when Washingtonville schools are closed Chris McKenna Times Herald-Record
A group representing Hasidic families in Blooming Grove has sued to force Washingtonville School District to bus their children to religious schools on at least 21 days this coming year when public schools are closed for recesses and other reasons.
The lawsuit was filed last month in state Supreme Court in Albany against both the district and the state Education Department. The case seeks to overturn the district's policy to forgo busing to nonpublic schools when its own schools are closed, and to also invalidate the guidance by the state Education Department that supports that policy.
The suit follows a large influx of Hasidic families from neighboring Kiryas Joel and Brooklyn to the village of South Blooming Grove in the last five years. By last school year, around 600 children in Washingtonville School District were attending Hasidic schools in and outside Kiryas Joel, mostly the United Talmudical Academy and Sheri Torah systems, according to state data. Six years earlier, there had been none.
The lawsuit was brought by the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove and its leaders, Joel Stern and Yitzchok Ekstein. Stern, who moved to South Blooming Grove from Kiryas Joel in 2017, has five children attending Sheri Torah schools, according to the lawsuit. Ekstein, who moved to Blooming Grove from Kiryas Joel in 2016, has four kids in the UTA schools.
. Their lawyers had been threatening a lawsuit since February, when they demanded busing during a week-long recess for Washingtonville schools and were denied. They then sent another demand in June for transportation on 21 days – "among others" – in the 2021-22 school year when public schools will be closed, including the winter break and week-long recesses in February and April.
State law requires school districts to provide transportation for children attending private or parochial schools within 15 miles of their homes. Attorneys for the Blooming Grove families argue the state and Washingtonville School District are violating that law – and their constitutional rights – by saying the busing mandate doesn't apply when a district's schools are closed.
In a court statement, Ekstein said that because he is an emergency medical technician who must respond to calls at unpredictable times, he might not be able to drive his kids to school when there is no busing.
Finding other rides for them would "foist the economic burden of transportation services on my family," he said.
Mark Rushfield, one of Washingtonville's attorneys, counters that the state education commissioner has "consistently rendered a different interpretation" of state law, finding no obligation for districts to bus students when their schools are closed. No court rulings have declared otherwise, he added in a court statement.
The plaintiffs' lawyers argue their demand will add no costs because no busing is needed on other days when the Hasidic schools are closed for religious holidays and the public schools are open. They say both school systems, public and religious, have roughly the same number of school days on their calendars.
The plaintiffs are seeking an immediate court order to force Washingtonville to provide busing when the Hasidic schools open on Aug. 30, two days before Washingtonville's schools do. Attorneys for the two sides are due to present their arguments by Aug. 23 to Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch, the Albany judge hearing the case.
Neighboring Monroe-Woodbury School District has about 1,340 children attending Hasidic schools in and around Kiryas Joel, according to state data. It was unclear on Tuesday if Monroe-Woodbury provides busing for nonpublic school students on days when its own schools are closed
בלומינג ג האט געשריבן:The plaintiffs' lawyers argue their demand will add no costs because no busing is needed on other days when the Hasidic schools are closed for religious holidays and the public schools are open. They say both school systems, public and religious, have roughly the same number of school days on their calendars.
כא כא כא האבן די כרעמזליך געלאכט ווען די שיבער האט זיי געדרייט אינעם טאפ צו די אנדערע זייט..
הרה"צ ר' חיים מאיר האגער שליט"א אב"ד וויזניץ בלומנגראוו בנו יחידו פון וויזניצע רבי שליט"א מיט חסידי וויזניץ תושבי בלומנגראוו ביי משתתף זיין ביי א מסיבת מרעים מיט כ"ק אדמו"ר מהרי"י מסאטמאר שליט"א און בלומנגראוו
א געוואלדיגע דערגרייכונג פאר אלע אנשי ק"ק סאטמאר (מהרי"י) תושבי בלומינגראוו, נאך א לאנגע תקופה וואס דער ציבור קוקט שוין ארויס אויף דעם מאמענט איז בברכת קדשו ובשליחותו פון כ״ק מרן אדמו"ר מהרי"י שליט״א אויפגענומען געווארן הרב הגאון מעוז ומגדל, מורה הוראה בקהלת סאטמאר הק׳ אין וויליאמסבורג, און מרביץ תורה אין ביהמ״ד הגדול ד'סאטמאר אין וויליאמסבורג כמה שנים כולן שוין לטובה, און איז באוויסט מיט זיין בקיאות בתורה, פה מפיק מרגליות מיט הערליכע שיעורים בהלכה, ישרות און חן בעיני אלקים ואדם, און גאר א צוגעלאזענער להורות לעם ה׳ את המעשה אשר יעשון הרב הגאון רבי מנחם נתנאל יונגרייז שליט״א וואס וועט מיט זיין כח התורה והוראה שטיין לשירות הציבור אלץ דיין פאר חסידי סאטמאר (מהרי"י) תושבי בלומינגראווו
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