STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) is calling on education officials to provide answers to families about the future of yellow school buses when New York City students return to school under a blended learning model in the fall -- especially as Staten Island has scarce options when it comes to public transportation.
School busing came to halt in mid-March when school buildings were shut down to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Prior to the shutdown, the DOE shared guidance that all school bus contractors must adopt for cleaning and disinfecting school bus vehicles. At the time, contractors were instructed to disinfect all exposed surfaces in their school bus vehicles twice a week using an effective anti-viral disinfecting product.
Matteo sent a letter to New York City Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza on Saturday following a New York Post report that students in general education may not have a school bus to take them to school come September -- which means 90,000 students may not be able to receive busing. The DOE would not confirm if the 90,000 number is accurate.
Yellow school buses serve 150,000 general and special education students citywide.
“The article indicates that the Department of Education is not planning on providing bus transportation for general education students this upcoming school year,” Matteo wrote in the letter. “I am writing to ask for an update on the Department’s transportation plans and to ascertain whether this story is accurate.”
He said that if the New York Post story is true, it will be more difficult for parents. In the letter, Matteo explained that Staten Island is geographically different than other boroughs as it is more spread-out with many areas that lack sidewalks.
“In addition, we have a dearth of public transportation options, which makes it difficult for many students to arrive to school via public transportation,” Matteo wrote. “Many of those families where a parent does not work will likely choose the exclusive at-home option for school, but many families do not have this luxury. It appears they may not only have to face a severe disruption to their work schedules on days when their children are home – risking their jobs – but parents will also be forced to figure out new ways of transporting their children to and from school on days when their children are in school, further risking their employment.”
When reached by the Advance/SILive.com on Sunday, Miranda Barbot, spokeswoman for the DOE, said: “We are currently assessing ways to provide safe transportation options this fall and will have updates as soon as they are available,” said Miranda Barbot, spokeswoman for the DOE. “Transportation will have safety measures in place in accordance with current health guidance. Our priority will be to provide busing to students with IEP mandates for transportation and we are working to develop alternatives in partnerships with the MTA and TLC [Taxi and Limousine Commission].”
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Come September, parents will have the option to allow their children to fully work remotely, but if they choose to send their kids back to the classroom, students will only be allowed to return for in-person learning two or three days of the week and work remotely the rest of the week.
In addition to getting child care during remote learning days, parents would also need to get further accommodations to transport their kids to and from school, Matteo added.
“This is an untenable situation for many working families and will lead to further unemployment in our city,” he wrote.
Matteo asked for the opportunity to speak to a member of the chancellor’s team about the DOE’s transportation plan for the next school year.
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Will NYC kids ride school buses in the fall? Matteo calls on DOE for answers - SILive.com
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