‘Broken bus system’
Stringer calls for review of driver hiring
The city’s top auditor called for a review of the Department of Education system for vetting school bus drivers Sunday, as outrage spread over a Daily News exposé of huge loopholes that allowed people with serious criminal records to ferry children.
Controller Scott Stringer wrote, in a letter to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza titled “School Bus Failures,” the revelations of drivers with serious criminal records and massive delays in delivering students, both detailed in The News, requires a careful examination of flaws in the sprawling system.
“As a father who’s walking his first-grader to the school bus tomorrow and as an elected official — I implore the city to fully revamp the broken bus system which leaves kids stranded at the wrong stops and drivers without proper vetting,” Stringer told The News Sunday.
“A chancellor has a lot of important work to do, but first and foremost he must ensure our kids get to school safe and in time, no ifs ands or buts.”
Stringer noted the delay problem and the problem with the background checks goes as far back as an audit conducted in 2007.
The letter comes after The News reported Sunday that Eric Reynolds, a retired detective working as an investigator for the DOE, and others uncovered at least six drivers who had serious criminal records, including a burglar, a sex offender and two domestic abusers with drunk driving convictions. Stringer noted Reynolds has raised “serious issues.”
“Given this background, it is more than a little disturbing to read in additional press reports the concerns and frustrations expressed by Eric Reynolds, an investigator for the Office of Pupil Transportation who chose to go public with clear and ongoing breakdowns in the DOE’s vetting processes,” Stringer wrote.
“According to Reynolds, the background checks performed on drivers by the private bus companies is all but nonexistent, and the DOE’s own system of vetting is too lax to catch those with clear violations on their records, including criminal convictions on their records.”
Phillip Banks, a former NYPD Chief of Department who was an MTA bus driver before he became a cop, also expressed concerns.
“Many challenges face complex organizations like the DOE, but they still shouldn’t produce subpar results,” he said. “We’re subcontracting out vital services, like the bus system, and that’s something we have to keep a close eye on. These are people operating a large piece of machinery we have to trust to take care of our most valuable commodity: our children. Let’s make the children the first priority.”
New York City Parents Union President Mona Davids said the city Education Department must do a better job protecting the 150,000 city kids who ride the yellow school buses. She agreed with Reynolds, who said the records of every driver and matron must be re-examined.
“It’s shocking,” said Davids of The News investigation. “It’s just another example of the Department of Education failing to protect our children and not putting the safety of our children first.”