NYC public school buses arrive too late, too early or not at all, parents and students say
Many New York City Public Schools parents and students say city school buses are often arriving too early
By Doug Williams
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NEW YORK (WCBS, WLNY) — Many New York City Public Schools parents and students say city school buses are often arriving too early, too late or not at all.
Representatives of the Department of Education’s Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) testified in a City Council hearing Monday.
“Students living in Brooklyn, going to school in Manhattan. Has to be on the bus by 6, but gets to school every day at 8:20,” Council Member Rita Joseph said.
“We try to keep interborough transportation, as you’re mentioning, to two hours,” said Glenn Risbrook, executive director of OPT.
That scenario is high school senior Sadie Holiner’s reality. It took Sadie and her parents years to get a system that worked for her, and her condition – FND, which causes seizures.
Sadie and her parents say they asked the bus driver in person about wheelchair accessibility, should she need one.
“With 24 hours notice, they took me off the bus route completely,” Sadie said.
She was cut and offered a ride-share program instead.
“Mentally, if you’re getting in an Uber with just a driver…” CBS News New York education reporter Doug Williams said.
“Oh, it’s insanely anxiety-provoking,” Sadie said.
“Sadie’s condition also worsens under the anxiety,” Sadie’s dad, Stephen Holiner, said. “It’s not like she can just sit and wait, and we can be confident that that’s going to be OK.”
Queens resident Dawn Akerley’s 6-year-old son, Jace, has autism. Akerley says during this three-day school week, the school bus arrived at three different times.
“Monday about 7:35 … Tuesday was about 8:30, arrived at school 9:30. And Wednesday was about 8 o’clock,” she said.
Once Jace gets on, Dawn says, the bus for special ed students stops at two other schools before his.
“The teachers have been calling me. He can’t settle in. He can’t sit down. Right! Because he’s been sitting, driving around in circles for two hours,” Akerley said. “The Department of Education is well aware of what children with autism and other special needs require, and they are not meeting those requirements.”
The DOE says some of these issues are caused by a contract from the 1970s between the department and several of the bus companies it still employs. It basically means certain companies are grandfathered in. There’s no competition or incentives.
It also means that hiring is down, which has led to a shortage.
The education department has said that the contract cannot be modified without getting rid of protections for union bus drivers. You need those protections to hire new drivers.
The DOE is asking Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to step in. A city schools spokesperson says they are advocating for legislative changes that would allow for improvements to the contracts.
A city schools spokesperson told CBS News New York they apologize to families experiencing issues.
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