Thursday, June 02, 2022
Appeals court reverses ruling in favor of Hasidic families in Washingtonville busing case
An appeals court panel has reversed a ruling that would have forced Washingtonville School District to begin busing Hasidic children to their religious schools on days when the public schools are closed.
In a decision on Thursday, four Appellate Division judges in Albany supported the district's policy of driving students to nonpublic schools only when its own schools are open, and the state guidance on which that policy was based. The lower-court ruling in November that extended that obligation skewed the intent of state law and "would lead to unreasonable results," the judges found.
"The Legislature could not have intended to require school districts to transport nonpublic school students in the summer, on weekends, on state or federal holidays, or on days when public schools are closed for weather-related or other emergency reasons, none of which would be foreclosed by Supreme Court's interpretation," the court ruled
The reversal was a setback for Blooming Grove's growing Hasidic population and a victory for the school district, which had argued it had no legal duty to bus students to private and religious schools during its recesses and on holidays. There were 20 days this school year on which Washingtonville schools were closed and Hasidic schools in and around Kiryas Joel were open.
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