STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With schools across New York City reopening their doors to students this month amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the city Department of Education (DOE) has begun providing some school bus service, with reinforcements on the way.
This week, the DOE began providing school bus service for preschools, District 75 schools, Catholic schools, private schools and charter schools -- with approximately 2,700 routes for District 75 schools and 1,400 routes for non-public schools, according to the agency.
“We’re happy that we’re able to offer safe bus service this week for our preschool, District 75, and non-public school students,” said DOE spokeswoman Danielle Filson.
The 1,400 routes for non-public schools are currently serving approximately 18,000 non-public school students.
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With the rest of the city’s public schools slated to reopen next week as part of the city’s phased reopening plan, the DOE will have its full fleet of 10,000 school buses running to ensure safe student transportation with appropriate social distancing measures being enforced.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week that the city would phase-in the start of the school year for blended learners, with 3-K, pre-K and District 75 students reporting in-person beginning Monday.
Students in K-5 and K-8 schools will begin reporting on Tuesday, Sept. 29, and middle and high school students will begin returning on Thursday, Oct. 1, with the city’s full fleet of buses prepped to handle all students returning to their school buildings.
WILL FULL SERVICE RESUME?
Initially, when the DOE submitted its reopening plans to the state in August, the department was unsure if it would be able to provide traditional school bus service for all eligible students, adding that MetroCards and other alternative transportation options may be necessary to supplement school bus service.
“It is widely recognized that the current pandemic presents unique challenges to providing school bus service, and that it may not be possible to provide service in all cases,” the reopening plan said.
“Because of this unique situation, it may not be possible to provide transportation through a conventional mode such as a bus, and may require other modes to be employed to satisfy transportation needs, such as MetroCard,” the plan continued.
However, the DOE has since confirmed that the department does have the capacity to provide school bus service to all eligible students participating in blended learning for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Parents can visit their NYC Schools Account to view their child’s route assignments, which were made available earlier this month, according to the DOE.
A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE
As a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, riding the school bus will be a much different experience for students than in years past.
School bus capacities will be limited to 25%, with the only exceptions being children living in the same household -- who may be seated together, in addition to nurses and paraprofessionals assigned to the student.
While on the bus, all students, drivers and attendants will be required to wear a mask or facial covering at all times, with the exception of select students.
“Only students who are exempted from facial coverings requirements due to their age or medical needs, or whose physical or mental health would be impaired by wearing a face covering, may ride the bus without one,” according to the DOE website.
Students who enter the bus without a mask or face covering will have one provided to them.
School buses will be cleaned and disinfected each night to reduce any potential spread of the virus, with bus windows open, whenever possible, to increase ventilation during trips.
When exiting the bus, students will be required to exit one row at a time, as to avoid any crowding and to maintain safe social distance.
Parents are expected to conduct health screenings, including temperature checks, on their children each morning before sending them onto the bus.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the DOE is dedicating school bus service this year exclusively to transporting students to and from school on their assigned days, and will no longer provide busing for after-school programs, field trips, Learning Bridges programs or on federal holidays.
Additionally, students may be required to share a bus with students from different schools, according to the DOE website.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Despite the DOE starting to provide school bus service for non-public school students on Monday, some Catholic schools on Staten Island still don’t have their bus routes up and running.
On Sunday, Blessed Sacrament School, in West Brighton, sent a letter to parents informing them that the school is still in the process of coordinating routes with the city, and that school bus service is not expected to begin until Monday, Sept. 28.
“On Friday afternoon, we were notified that bus service will now be available, however; buses will only be able to accommodate 25% capacity. Until we can coordinate with the Office of Pupil Transportation to confirm ridership availability and stop locations and times, we cannot comfortably proceed forward until we know our students are safe,” wrote principal Joseph Cocozello.
“We will work this week to input all information to the Office of Pupil Transportation and coordinate with OPT and/or Pioneer Bus Company to have services put in place for Monday, Sept. 28,” he added.
The DOE said it has been in contact with the city’s non-public schools and informed them that bus service would begin on Monday, Sept. 21, but the letter from Blessed Sacrament indicates that the school was not alerted to this until Friday, Sept. 18, giving it just one weekend to coordinate and prepare.
“We’re in close contact with our non-public schools, and made sure they were aware that bus service for their students would begin on September 21,” Filson said.
For all schools that reopened their doors to students before the city began providing bus service on Monday, MetroCards were distributed to provide a free transportation alternative for students.
“In the interim, we distributed MetroCards to ensure all students had a free, public transportation option as well," Filson said.
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