The Lakewood Board of Education is moving to eliminate courtesy busing for public-school students who do not qualify for state-mandated transportation, marking another major development in the transportation crisis that has gripped Lakewood just days before the start of the new school year.

The move comes amid intense scrutiny of Lakewood’s transportation system following the loss of millions of dollars in municipal funding and the resulting upheaval over busing for thousands of non-mandated yeshiva and other nonpublic-school students.

Under New Jersey law, transportation is generally mandated for elementary students who live more than two miles from school and high-school students who live more than 2.5 miles away. Students living closer are considered non-mandated, and transportation provided to them is commonly referred to as courtesy busing.

Until now, Lakewood public-school students who fell below those mileage thresholds could receive courtesy transportation without their families facing the type of per-child charges imposed on nonpublic-school families.

That disparity became a major issue over the past week after the Lakewood Student Transportation Authority initially announced that non-mandated nonpublic-school families would have to pay $945 per child for transportation during the 2026-27 school year, up from the previously announced $385.

Following days of intensive negotiations involving the LSTA, Igud Hamosdos, elected officials and askanim, the additional charge was subsequently reduced to $290 per student, allowing thousands of families to opt back into the transportation system.

But the broader financial crisis remains unresolved.

Lakewood Township officials have said they were forced to withdraw approximately $2.7 million in support for the transportation system after the state significantly reduced municipal aid and the State Local Finance Board rejected Lakewood’s request to raise an additional $12.9 million above New Jersey’s property-tax cap.

The decision to now cut courtesy busing for non-mandated public-school students would represent a significant change to the district’s transportation policy and would place public-school students living within the statutory mileage limits in a similar position to other students who are not legally entitled to taxpayer-funded transportation.

The latest development also comes as questions continue to swirl over how Lakewood’s enormous and unusually complex school transportation system will be funded going forward.

Lakewood transports tens of thousands of children each day across public and nonpublic schools, making its transportation operation unlike virtually any other municipality in New Jersey.

While the last-minute reduction in the nonpublic-school busing charge has provided immediate relief to thousands of Lakewood families, officials and askanim are continuing to seek a long-term solution that can prevent the community from facing another transportation funding crisis next year.