Parents Roar At City Hall

City Councilmembers, parents, school administrators and officials from bus companies and the Departments of Education (DOE) and Transportation (DOT) held a joint oversight hearing this week to discuss ongoing concerns regarding the transportation of 80,000 special education students throughout the city.
For more than ten years, the DOT and DOE have shared the responsibility of special education, pre-kindergarten transportation. In that time, parents say, the line between bureaucracy and safety has blurred.
Parents are outraged by the persistent problems faced by the children who rely on these private buses. These include a lack of car seats and adequate ventilation systems, widely variant consistency of drivers, matrons and drive runs, excessive length of ride time, lateness, overcrowding, frequent breakdowns and in some extreme cases, fire.
Several buses reportedly are lacking radios, tail lights and other equipment necessary to provide a safe ride for the special needs children.
Parents have been rallying together with their schools to advocate for their children and demand increased scrutiny and consistency in handling these issues.
Lina Garcia of Elmhurst claimed her son’s performance in school suffered as a result of poor bus service.
“The situation is horrible. I went through hell all year and my child experienced emotional distress,” said Garcia, who ultimately found alternate means of transportation for her child. “These kids are already special and cannot deal with problems like this.”
Maritza Mercado, a concerned parent of a child in ICCD, a pre-K special education program in Bayside, said conditions are slowly improving.
“Things are getting better but changes still need to be made.”
Private bus companies submit bids to both the DOE and DOT in hopes of receiving contracts that range in length from 3-5 years. The bids are accepted based on cost and value.
Unfortunately, parents and special education administrators alike feel that the children — some of the most fragile and un-represented voices in the city — have been the ones to suffer through deplorable conditions.
“These children are helpless and at the mercy of the bus drivers,” commented Councilmember John Liu, chair of the Transportation Committee. “Special Education students, especially at this age, are vulnerable and these buses are not as safe as they ought to be. It’s appalling that the DOT basically runs a fly-by-night operation in the transportation of our youngest children to and from school.”
Liu announced plans to draft legislation “to require the consolidation” of both city agencies and “ensure better services for special needs children and clearer lines of accountability for the sake of parents’ peace of mind.”
Sometimes schools specializing in providing imperative therapy and special instruction to these children get caught in the middle of the crossfire.
“A lot of times I struggle with finding answers for the parents,” said Minerva Romero, supervisor of the Life Skills Pre-School in Rego Park. “This problem puts a lot of pressure on the parents. I wish the bus companies would give me the right information and be more honest so I can tell the parents exactly what the problem is.”