NY School Districts Must Provide Busing to Non-Public School Students on Public School Off Days

 

In a massive win for New York yeshivos, a state judge ruled that a school district must provide busing for non-public school students on days that public schools are closed.

The case was filed by the Orthodox Jewish community in Blooming Grove in July, saying that the guidance affected some 170,000 frum students in New York, and around 400,000 students in total.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch ruled that the Washingtonville School District was in violation of state education law by refusing to provide said transportation, and that state education department guidance allowing districts not to provide busing on days that public schools are not in session was “null and void.”

The ruling will already have an effect this week, as yeshivos continue providing instruction on Thanksgiving, when public schools are closed, and will have much wider implications if the ruling is upheld on appeal.

Rabbi Yeruchem Silber of Agudath Israel called the ruling “a victory not just for non-public school in Washingtonville School District, but for all non-public schools and their students throughout the entire state.”