Smithtown could revisit schools busing limit

The Smithtown Board of Education will welcome two new members and elect a new president at its meeting Wednesday night.

Grace Plourde and Joanne McEnroy, who defeated incumbents Robert Rossi and Neil Carlin in the May election, will formally join the board, which will then choose a new president to replace Rossi.

The board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Joseph Barton building on New York Avenue in Smithtown. The meeting had originally been scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed.

The board also could revisit the controversial busing policy that voters adopted in a May 17 referendum. The school board last month rejected a petition from 1,500 residents asking for a new vote, but board members indicated then that they might reconsider the issue when the new school board convenes.

The new transportation policy, which passed by more than 800 votes out of 7,000 cast, extends by a half mile the distances students must live from school to receive busing.

Parents say the new policy puts hundreds of public and private school students in danger because they will have to walk, often on roads without sidewalks, when school resumes in September.