The Lakewood Student Transportation Authority (LSTA) is reporting a major step forward in its preparations for the upcoming 2026–2027 school year, with officials announcing that more than 12,700 students are already being processed for transportation renewal.

Following a strong early response from parents who submitted their forms ahead of schedule, LSTA confirmed that 12,717 students will be submitted for renewal this week. As a result, a large majority of those renewals are expected to be finalized before Pesach, representing the earliest such timeline in the past ten years.

Once the renewal phase is complete, LSTA will begin reviewing routes in coordination with individual schools to ensure a smoother and more efficient start to the school year. This phase will focus on refining routes, accounting for enrollment shifts, and optimizing coverage across the system.

Routing for additional schools is expected to continue after Pesach, with LSTA indicating that coverage will expand beyond what was offered in previous years.

As part of the first round of renewals, areas such as Monmouth Manor, Howell, and Jackson 21 have already been incorporated into routes serving multiple schools. However, officials noted that new routes may still be created depending on final needs, and any such routes will be subject to a formal bidding process once renewals are completed.

The LSTA noted the scale of the operation, which involves coordinating transportation for more than 160 schools and nearly 60,000 students. The full process is expected to take several months as routes are finalized and contracts are secured.