Bus is not coming
Disabled kids could be stranded for week or more
Hundreds of city students with significant disabilities could be left stranded for a week or more for a second consecutive year after the city Education Department abruptly switched the start date for yellow school bus service for at least four specialized private schools, frustrated parents and educators told the Daily News.
The city Education Department is responsible for providing school bus transportation for roughly 400 deaf, blind and multiple-disabled city kids who were scheduled to begin classes last week and this week at state-funded private schools tailored to kids with disabilities.
Education Department officials approved the private schools’ planned start dates back in June, but abruptly backtracked in August, telling the schools that bus service won’t start until Sept. 13 — the first day of class for public schools.
The about-face leaves hundreds of vulnerable kids stranded and frustrated parents scrambling, school officials and families said.
“Everybody’s upset,” said Jodi Falk, the director of the St. Francis DeSales school for deaf students in Brooklyn, which was slated to begin classes Friday.
“After a year of COVID and choosing at-home instruction, they finally have their day they’re returning, and now they have one more obstacle in the way. That traumatizes students.”
The bus service snafu marks the second year in a row that school bus transportation has been disrupted for specialized private schools serving some of the city’s most vulnerable kids.
State-subsidized private schools, which typically serve students with complex disabilities whose needs can’t be accommodated in public schools, rely on public school districts for bus transportation. The buses provide door-to-door service and often come equipped with trained matrons or paraprofessionals to supervise physically or medically fragile kids.
School leaders said they submitted their calendars to the Education Department as normal in June, and got confirmation that same month from the agency that the start dates were approved.
But on Aug. 19, the department’s Office of Pupil Transportation alerted school leaders in a short email that “busing for the 2021-22 school year will become available beginning Monday, Sept. 13, 2021,” offering no further explanation, according to a copy of the message reviewed by the Daily News.
Bus driver shortages have scuttled back-to-school plans in districts across the country, but Education Department officials have said they have no concerns about driver staffing — even after the city’s largest school bus worker union warned of a shortage.
Some of the private schools affected by the bus service delays were slated to start classes as early as last week.
News of the mixups landed as an unwelcome blow to families and educators desperate to resume some normalcy after a year and a half of constant disruption.
“I was just flabbergasted,” said Dilenys Valdez, the mother of a 12-year-old student with albinism who attends the New York Institute for Special Education in the Bronx.
“There’s so many things going on. To add one more thing it’s like the cherry on top. Having to be a single, working parent of a child with a disability and have so many inconveniences with the [Education Department] is just unacceptable.”
Valdez said she now faces a set of unappealing options: keeping her son home and missing work, asking a relative or friend to watch him and risking increasing his exposure COVID-19, or figuring out another way to get him to school.
“There’s not a win-win situation at this point,” she said.
City officials have offered some alternatives, including a private cab service that can transport kids and adult companions to school and will bring the adult back home. The New York Institute for Special Education said it’s paying upfront for the service. Two days this week are holidays.
But educators said that even if families manage to figure out the new system, it won’t replace school buses — which come equipped with trained adults to supervise vulnerable kids. Many kids who need such supervision don’t have parents or guardians who can take time off to accompany them, educators said.
“Even though there have been attempts, they are not really issues that are going to help our people,” said Bernadette Kappen, the head of the Institute for Special Education.
On Thursday, a slew of state lawmakers ripped city officials on the oversight, with state Sen. John Liu (D-Queens) saying it’s “unconscionable how special-needs students and their families are always an after-thought for City Hall and the [Education Department].”
Department officials did not offer an explanation for the bus services delays, but said they’re “actively working with the bus companies” to try to start service earlier than Sept. 13.
Education Department spokeswoman Katie O’Hanlon said, “We’re providing private car service for eligible nonpublic school families to ensure they have safe, reliable and free transportation to and from school for the few days that these schools are open before the NYC [Education Department] school year begins. We look forward to standing up full-capacity bus service on Sept. 13 and getting all our students back on buses and into their classrooms.”