So, good evening everyone. Uh, my name is Shaul Hawk and I'm the chairman of the commission. Uh, I want to call the meeting to order at this time, and I also want to thank all the commission members who are present as well as well, the parents, the members of the Board of Education, and all the participants who are here today. The po, the Pupil Transportation Advisory Commission is an independent special commission working to develop concrete policy recommendations to improve bus services in New York City Public Schools.
It will be presented to the Panel for Educational Policy and the Chancellor of the City of New York. The commission has many valuable members, parents, advocates, Indian representatives, and community leaders. So the purpose of meeting is twofold. One is that we want to improve the transparency and support systems for the students and parents. And the second is that how can we best support the students riding New York City Public School buses?
At this time, I would like to ask Noah to just, uh, share the norms of this meeting, and then we can take it from there. Thank you. Uh, so the meeting today is produced by our partners Learning Times, who will help facilitate the public speaking portion of this meeting and keep track of the time for speakers. Each speaker will be called upon to unmute themselves and provide their testimony as posted on the website and in the meeting registration. Each speaker will have two minutes and 30 seconds to provide oral feedback, but everyone is always welcome to submit comments in writing
through the link found on the website. Speakers will be called upon in the order of when they registered with the exception of students. As Shamsul pointed out, a list of the speakers will be displayed on the screen alongside the timer. Your microphone will be muted immediately upon expiration of the timer. Thank you. Thank you, Noah. And at this time, I would like to ask if there are any students who would like to speak, can you raise your hand so we can, we know exactly who you are? Is there anybody who would like to speak any students here? If not, uh, we can start our official, uh, hearing,
and I would like to request their learning times Rebecca to, uh, take it from there. Thank you. Um, yes, I will begin, uh, calling, um, folks names. When I call your name, your microphone will be enabled, and I will put the timer on the screen along with the, um, speaker list. So the first, um, speaker we have is Ellen ue. We don't see in the room, so we'll move on to Josephine Lamb. We don't see in the room. Chris, um, Christina Baki, you don't see in the room.
So move on to Abigail McGuire, please. Um, please unmute yourself. Hello? Hi. Hello? Yes. Yes, go ahead. Hi. Um, so I am going to give kind of like a, an intro to our problem and then our problem and just repeat my intro. But our school that we go to is a 15 minute walk from our apartment. And, um, the, our school has 50 buses. And for whatever reason, my,
because my daughter's bus is also going to two other schools beforehand, her bus ride is an hour and 50 minutes long every morning. Um, and of course the ride back is not as long, and we just, that's kind of our biggest complaint. Like what, you know, what is going on that our school being so big that there are 50 buses, why can't our school just get buses for the students at our school? And I talked to other parents and we're like, gosh, if we were the bus routers, this is how we would do it.
And it's just over and over again. But, you know, my daughter has a lot of anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, she picks at her skin, you know, even for the bus drivers in bus matron, they are struggling because, you know, while they're waiting 45 minutes at the first school drop off, um, she's screaming and understandably, you know, unsettling other students with her screaming, but also the self-harming is an issue and it feels very avoidable. Um, so again, I, I mean, I think my biggest point is
I don't understand why our school can't get buses just for our school so that we avoid so many of the students at my daughter's school. So many of them stop at two other schools before they get to her school. Um, yeah, I don't think there's anything else for me to say. I think that's it. Thank you. The next, uh, public speaker is Mary Bun, who I do not see in the room. So move on to Karine Ko, who I also don't see in the room. So move on to Beverly Reese.
Uh, good evening everyone, and thank you for having, uh, this, this webinar, um, for us. Um, so I think that one of the things that needs to be done is for, uh, there to be transparency at OPT, um, so that when we do call the number to complain, um, it doesn't feel like it's going into a void and that all we're getting is a ticket number, um, just
to satisfy your needs, but not ours. Um, I really do feel that, um, OPT needs to come into the 21st century with the way that you do things. Um, you know, get giving us, um, you know, a ticket number and then having us, like, I, I have no idea when things are done. I have no, you know, I, all I know is that my, my child is still in the same predicament that he was, um, previously, and there is no, no way
of me contacting the person who is in charge. Um, now that you that, that we have this, I believe it's you chairman of the commission, um, sha uh, Shamo. Um, but that's one of the things that I think that that should happen is that we need to know who we need to contact, um, um, further if our, if our complaints are not handled. Um, the other thing that I really want to talk about is that I don't believe that students should be on the bus for two hours or more, which is where my child is.
Especially those students who are, who have an IEP, um, students who live in Brooklyn should not have to travel to Queens to pick up one student. Um, students with IEP should be given more than three to five minutes of cushion time or courtesy just in case they have to use the bathroom before they get onto the bus that is going to take them two hours to get to school. Um, I think that it, there needs to be more human interaction, um, rather than a robotic way of, of doing things.
Um, and that's all I have to say. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next public speaker is Lori Pad Vesk. Good evening. Uh, my name is Lori Pad Vesk and I lead the policy work for include NYC. Include NYC is an independent nonprofit founded by three moms of children with Disabil more than 42 years ago. I'm here tonight to testify on behalf of the many family members of young people with disabilities who come to us year after year, looking for help with navigating busing services for their child and their families. To discuss the chronic worsening crisis
and the city's overall school busing system. The scale of the problem this year feels greater, even greater than in years past with bigger shortages of drivers, attendance and power professionals. And the first few weeks alone, over 8,000 significant delays in 4,400 total, no-shows were recorded. The severity of these incidents has skyrocketed with a sharp increase in extreme delays exceeding one hour special education routes account for 94% of all delays lasting over an hour. This isn't okay. Students not receiving instruction
and nont transportation related services such as speech therapy and counseling because of inadequate and inferior busing services going to and from school each day is not only a violation of their individual educational rights and IEP non-compliance, but students getting to school late in the morning and boarding buses in the afternoon before dismissal time means thousands of students with disabilities are actively being excluded from their school communities and classrooms. The emotional stress from this instability manifests as anxiety and behavioral issues often interfering
with learning, even when the student finally arrives. It also places immense unconscionable stress on working families. The root of this billion dollar prop $2 billion problem lies in outdated contracts. The city reliance on decades old legacy agreements and restrictive interpretations of policy has choked the competition. This directly fuels the chronic shortage of qualified drivers and reliable buses, including the lack of required air condition, proper driver training, and the use of inappropriate large buses for students with limited time travel needs.
The impacts on families is immediate and severe. When a bus fails to appear, parents, many of whom are nurses, teachers, and public service workers are forced to miss work, creating financial hardship and jeopardizing their employment. To make matters worse, the OPT call center staff often are overburdened and are unable to provide real time actionable solutions or follow up, leaving families to navigate a broken system alone. Like the mom who spoke before me was talking about. Furthermore, transportation issues prevent students with disabilities from accessing afterschool programs,
creating even further exclusion, which is per not only profound, but it is inequitable. The city must develop plans on how their next iteration of busing contracts will include more detailed service requirements like extended hours and climate control hold bus companies more financially accountable when they fall short with contract deliverables requiring staff trainings and students' needs, and restructuring bus routes for age appropriateness and providing better alternative transportation options like vouchers when bus service fails, or for if and when.
There is no busing service like there sadly may soon be, we must address the structural issues that prevent us from recruiting the necessary staff and modernizing the fleet. We cannot allow this crisis to continue to violate the right of every student to a free appropriate public education. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Freddy d Slink. I don't see in the room, so we'll move on to Jason Palmer. We don't see Marissa Watson. I don't see Mark Gonzalez. Go for it.
Mark, please unmute yourself. Hi, I'm so sorry. I'm on a free train right now. Um, let me get, we're just at station so lemme get off. My apologies. So, hi, uh, thank you. My name is Mark Gonzalez, a parent of a 16-year-old who's been riding the bus for 14 years. I'm also co-president of Citywide Council on Special Education, serving all students with disabilities in New York City. I'm gonna speak as a parent, but I will tell you, we get hundreds of emails, calls, texts every year on at the CPSE for problems with the disastrous school yellow bus service
that we have in the city. So, but as a parent, let me tell you, I'm literally just at a subway station because I had to go pick up my son today. Why? Because the busing does not offer after school busing. So I have to go out, pick up my son 'cause he cannot go on the subway or trains by himself and take him home. So I'm out about nine bucks. 'cause I had to go out there, pick him up and he had to take it. But we cannot get omni cards for my son because that's against DOE policy because he has a yellow bus. So go figure that one. But the real challenge is ultimately it's the,
the bus service is a disaster. And let me tell you, the OPT tries but is a disaster because we have 45-year-old contracts and they do not work. They are not up to date with what's necessary. They are really pathetic. So I have had to take my son to school twice this year, and let me tell you, the self-reporting system doesn't work. One time it was showing at the bus, bus, if you look at the reporting system, it shows he was about 20 minutes delayed the bus, except the bus didn't show up till over an hour to our house after school had already started. And that was a hour away if you drive door to door.
'cause I had literally was at school with my son when the bus showed up and my wife called. So, but a 20 minute delay according to the official self-report. The other time, the bus company never self-reported. If the bus never showed. Both times the matri was bring up and texted us to let us know what was going on, that there'd be a no-show bus that they were trying to find the bus that may or may not come, but to not even report it is part of the problem. We have fraud that goes on because these bus companies have no accountability. They take the 1.9 billion this year and there's nothing that we get as consumers.
They don't turn on the bus app. My son went a year and a half without the bus app working because the bus drivers did not turn 'em on. Thank you. So thank you very much. Thank you. The next, uh, public speaker is Shaday Curry, who I don't see, Sorry, We found to, I'm sorry there. Uh, we'll move on to Laia Blakeney, who I don't see. Is it possible to have, uh, Chad Dwyer? Yes. Speak please. Uh, yes. Thank you Shaul.
Um, Chad Royer, commissioner Member Commission member. Yes. Thank you. So good evening, folks. Uh, my name is Chad Roye. My parents, one of my children has a disability and I currently serve as a parent association president. At my school, I spent countless hours helping parents in understanding their rights. And as parents, when it comes to dealing with school busing issues, I unfortunately had the misfortune of having to file several OPT complaints over the span of 13 years where the bus companies have failed
to provide reliable bus service. What do I mean? No shows, late pickups, late arrivals, inadequate ac violation of medical alerts, failure to communicate appro, approximate pickup times. And it's sad because our children who have disabilities carry an unfair load in these inconveniences because they're the most vulnerable by nature. Now our drivers, for the most part, they do their best to perform, but are often at the mercy of the bus companies available working buses and incomplete communication.
We as parents would like to demand safety, accountability, and reliability as conditions for the new contracts. We do not want to recycle the existing 45-year-old contract with its terms. Uh, we want things like employee protections for the drivers, a minimum requirement of available buses for school per route, uh, in the contract. We want mandatory reporting to parents as soon as the bus breaks down, so that way parents can plan if they have to take their kids to school. Uh, there's so many ways to solve this issue,
but I'm here in support. The parents, the five-year contract is not a solution, it's just a bandaid to extend the existing problems. Uh, that's all I have. I yield the rest of my time. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll go back to our, uh, regular public speaker list. Um, so we have, uh, laia, who's not here, rah, Heina alum who I don't see. Susie Benjamin. Susie Wong. Benjamin who I don't see.
Michael Benjamin Don't see Jody Ann Daley. Stephanie Mansfield, please unmute yourself. Hi, sorry, I have kids. Um, hi, my name is Stephanie Mansfield, and, um, yeah, I have, uh, I'm a single mom of three. I don't know if you guys hear me. Um, but I am a single mom of three, uh, nine, uh, 11 and 13. And they all had busing at one point. And
I think the key points that I would like to touch base on, because I've experienced busing for so many years, um, is the lack of accountability for me. My youngest, um, just this year, my youngest just started receiving busing. Um, it's on his IEP. He should have had it from the beginning of the, the start of the school year. And, uh, he just started receiving it, uh, what last week. And it's not the lack of effort, it's not the lack
of preparation, it is just the inefficiencies within the system. Um, calling OPT and, and doing the things and doing the due diligence is frustrating as a parent. Um, knowing and navigating the system and doing everything that you're supposed to do to still not be able to get the services that is there. It's frustrating to be a survivor of domestic violence and know that there are laws and things like, um, specialized busing, um, for children and still not be able to get that busing
and having to go through extra loops and hoops because, um, the lack of support within the system, it's frustrating to not be able to, um, get that omni card if you have to drop off and pick up. So during the first two months when my son was not bused on record on OPT side, it said that he was bused, but he wasn't. I was taking him to and from his current school. So there is no recourse
or kind of like accountability on that end. And even reporting, um, there was an accident, um, in having just accountability in terms of, um, like, uh, the bus drivers having account in terms of, uh, sorry, in terms of just generally last thought, just generally having accountability when there is something that is wrong and they have your children on the bus, having bus drivers. Thank and OPT being accountable for that. Sorry.
Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next, uh, speaker is Vanessa. Alicia, I don't see, let's move on to Maria Brito, who I don't see Margaret Arroyo, uh, sharing lines, please unmute. Hi everyone. Um, I hope that you all can hear me. Um, so just to share, uh, what's happening with, with my kiddo this year. Um, my son, um, six, he's in the first grade,
um, has an IEP. It is mandated on his IEP that he gets busing. My son still will Wellington School year. My son still does not have blessing. Um, I'm going, I'm being forced to go back and forth between OPT and the school to figure out this problem. I, the parent, um, not the, not OPT, not the like, I have to do the legwork. I think that's one of the big problems, um, is that the parents are forced to do the legwork because we get told, at least in my case,
we get told two different sides of the coin when we speak to open teeth and, um, the schools. So, um, as I stated in my case, uh, my son, uh, has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, um, has an IED still does not have busing. And I think one of the biggest problems for me is OPT, uh, and the school do not communicate with one another. I, I, I don't know what the, the last in communication is. OPT, uh, put the problem on the school
and the school put the problem on OPT. It doesn't matter where the lasting communication is coming from. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, it is at this point. At this point, my child does not have bussing and we are, we are going almost into the third month of school and no busing if he, it's on his I eep. Um, that means that, um, his, you know, his rights as a special education student are being violated.
Um, that's essentially what that means to me. Um, and I think that there needs to be, like another parent said better, you know, more accountability, um, across the board, whether it's school, whether it's OBT, it, I, it, it doesn't matter. Someone needs to figure this out because I know that my son is not the only one not getting bus in. And the reason that I was given was, oh, we don't have a bus that goes that's going that that way. So in all the oma time is up, but in all the buses that are running, thank you.
You can't find one bus that my child can, can not. One route is available for my child. And that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. The next, uh, public speaker is Joanne Barber. I don't see Hillary Farmer not here. Karina Muis not here. Carmen. Patrice Patric. Patrice, I have you. My name is Carmen Patric. I got two kids in school with ips. Uh, I have cancer for the last three years.
Um, was really difficult for me because my, uh, younger son, exactly like Ms. Line said the bus didn't show up for three months. I had to call the OPT mornings afternoon, the bus company, which they don't communicate, they don't let us know. They turn off the phone on us, said, hold on a second, and then this, then I have to call the school. I called everybody else. I had to fight and send emails to everybody all around, like everybody said. Finally he got on the bus then very long routing and was two hours,
which is like 20 minutes away from the house. My older son, sometimes they show up, sometimes they don't, like today, 30 minutes late, show up and I got a lot of health issues. They telling me they first pick him up in the morning, right? Then they're telling me, come pick him up in the afternoon. Uh, I can't, I'm sick, I'm in the bed. I had radiation, I had chemo. I threw up all over the places. Plus I had to wear diapers. So I do my pants. Yes. Very, very difficult for me and for my kids. They are missing classes, they are missing services.
My older son is very intelligent guy, missing math and all, and all the services he needs. He just make him regress a lot. My younger son is second grade right now, so last year, almost half of the year, he lost everything he could lose. I couldn't take him to school. They said, okay, we give you a card, Omni card or whatever was metro card before. I can't go there. They don't communicate. They show up whenever. Then they say the bus was broken and later on, one hour later show up with the same bus.
Very unsafe because we know the numbers in the front. My partner sometimes is here, he drop them off or something like that. Their father, sometimes he's not, you know, everybody has to work. I, I couldn't, three years old, I couldn't work because if they don't pick him up, I have to keep him in the house because they keep saying they're coming. She said, oh, I passed by in the front of the building. I film days and days and days like being outside for an hour and a half and they never show up. And she said, yes, she did show up and was not true. I called the school, yes, the boss is here.
And I said, no, they didn't show up. I had to fight with everybody all these three years. And even actually my sons, they're going for school for many years with a busing and they're like everybody else. I'm sorry about that. Uh, disabled undisabled. It's very hard for everybody, you know. Thank you. I'm sorry about it. Thank you. The next public commenter is Sandra Cortes, who I don't see Irene Cartena not here. Wendy Rosa, please unmute Now. I figured it out.
Hi, my name is Wendy Rosa. I have two children with special needs, go to different schools. Um, my biggest concern is OPT and their tran um, transparency. There's just tickets. Um, and just calling back and calling back and calling back again and getting different people. I write down the people's names. I take down copious notes, but there was no recourse. You can't even get a supervisor on the line. Um, I was aware and I I took a course as a peer advocate, um,
about include NYC and knowing what the bus busing system is, it's a huge system. It's a broken system. This is not the only broken system in the New York City area, but this is a serious broken system. Our children need to go to school. Our children need to be there on time. Our children cannot be stuck in traffic, which is understandable, but they need to come home on time. They need to go to school on time with not missing services.
There are issues, multiple issues with multiple people, thousands of people that are having daily issues that are not fixed. They need to be more transparent, move the the situation up the chain, and be able to support the families, the children's, and the schools. With that, I am done. Thank you. Thank you. The next uh, public speaker is Maggie Sanchez, please unmute.
Hi, can you hear me? Yes. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Um, so on the, on the first question, we need transparency in regards to OPT call Center data broken down more specifically at the very least in terms of demographics and in terms of of school programs. As well as there needs to be improvements in either interpretation, services in multiple languages, including RIN or bilingual calling center staff for OPT, New York.
New York City Public Schools, uh, can make sure as an additional measure that all school programs adequately, adequately inform families in a timely manner when there are issues on the bus, like when a bus breaks down or will be arriving late for a pickup at school. Since bus companies don't always answer their phone lines, don't pick up and dismissal times and don't always let the families know when the buses are broken down or when there's an issue for, um, pickup at dismissal at the school.
So, um, we've been hearing that there is intention to fire 12,000 unionized unionized workers and leave tens of thousands of students, uh, students with IEPs, uh, included stranded if they do not receive a five year extension, which is outdated and inefficient. These contracts have not been updated since 1979. Families stay strong. Do not be intimidated. Do not be strong armed. Let's be clear, this is a manufacture crisis
by these greedy company owners, by the companies that are looking for their paycheck on the backs of our students because they will get their money. So the current 46-year-old contracts fail to meet the basic needs of today's students. They do not mandate air conditioning, do not improve service for afterschool, summer, or weekend programming. And due to the lack of any rebidding process over the last four decades, have never had the chance to include input from the voices of students and families demanding, safe, reliable, and untimed service.
This is shameful. This is embarrassing. This is pathetic. Families out there. Stay strong. You are not alone. Thank you. We protect each other. Thank, thank you. The next speaker is Gaylin Moore. Hi everyone. My name is GayLynn and I'm the parent of two students with disabilities. I also am a school social worker with the DOE for over 10 years. So I really see this problem from many sides, but obviously I'm just here speaking as a parent. Um, my son is autistic. My daughter has a rare disease called coffin Cyrus syndrome.
She has several medical complexities, including epilepsy and airway disease. She is non-speaking. She cannot communicate to me about what goes on the bus. Um, I wanna thank you for seeking to include the voices of students. We need to be centering them in this conversation. And not only the needs of adults in schools. We need more self-advocates here in this conversation. I also wanna express my gratitude to the bus matrix and the bus drivers who have taken care of my children for many years. They are not the problem. Um, in this situation. Um, we have to also acknowledge there are many vulnerable students affected by problems with busing.
Not only students with disabilities, but also students in foster care and in temporary housing. Um, we need bus routes that only serve one school. My child was repeatedly attacked by a child who attends another school, um, beginning in November, 2024. And the only people who tried to advocate and protect my child were the bus matron and the driver and the school staff, O-P-T-C-S-C, pep City Council. No one in the government did anything to help me. OPT continued to hurt my child. They placed her on a bus route with another child who does not attend her school multiple times, November,
December, again this summer again, this fall. And NYPD actually had to get on the bus and remove the child from the bus that was attacking my daughter. So I'm begging you if there needs to be a system, if a student is attacking another child, they have to be given a bus para, they have to be given a private bus, taxi something. They cannot be rerouted with the same child again and again, it's not acceptable. Um, currently my child's bus is over two hours long. She gets on the bus at six 15 in the morning. She gets to school at 8:20 AM There is not an appropriate
program in our community that meets my child's needs because of her complexities. We need more inclusive programs in the DOE so kids don't have to ride the bus for two hours. Um, I understand there's a problem with the current contracts, but as parents with com of kids with complex disabilities like mine, we are panicking. We are already dealing with so much on our plates and to think about how am I going to get my child to school? It's a bus and two subways away. A a metro card is not going to work. The stations are not accessible. I cannot take my child on, on the train and also get to work.
I understand that schools are also doing the best they can. We don't route the buses, we don't drive the buses. It's very unfair for OPT to tell parents to contact the school with route issues that schools cannot resolve. I have spent hours of my life on the phone with OPT and as a parent and a staff member, it's really unfair. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Just one question before you leave. Um, I'm hearing, uh, by the way, I'm hawk and I'm hearing that two hours, it takes four students to go to school or you were talking about both
back and forth two hours. Correct. That's two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. And my child had a better bus route when she was on the, on the bus with the child that was physically attacking her. So instead of him getting taken off and given another private way to get to school, maybe he needs a little taxi. Instead of that, she was punished for the third time by being taken off her route and given a much longer bus route. The matron, the driver, they take care of her every day. They care for her like she's their child because they see her needs, but she's being punished
because of the disability of another child and because of the dysfunction of the system. Well, thank you for, uh, clarifying this. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is, uh, Gaylene Martinez, who I don't see. So we'll move on to Kate Hoy, please unmute. Hi. Um, good evening. Thanks for the opportunity to comment this evening. My name is Kate Hoy. I am the VP of Children's Services at the Inter-Agency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, also known as IAC, where provider Association representing special
education preschools and state approved non-public in New York City, which are also known as 44 tens and eight 50 threes. Our members serve thousands of public school children with the most significant disabilities and highest support needs, including children who are medically fragile and children with autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and multiple disabilities. All of our preschool students with IEPs qualify for specialized transportation and the vast majority of students attending eight 50 threes receive transportation services and accommodations for the most part are students attend schools in parts of the city and beyond that are far from their family's home.
Many students are on the school bus for more than an hour and a half to two hours each way. Many are non-speaking. We are extremely concerned about the impact of a bus strike and the impact to our students, families, and schools. If our students miss school, they miss essential class time and mandated therapies. The current contingency plans, while greatly appreciated, do not account for the severity in individual needs of our students with disabilities. Our students need consistency and stability. The option to use prepaid car service requires a parent to ride with their child in the car meeting, missed work and childcare. It's not a negative comment about the hard work our schools
are doing to arrange alternatives and plan for the worst. This is just the reality. Students with disabilities need to be in school. Many of their parents need to be at work, especially with snap changes and work requirements. Starting not being at work might mean not putting food on the table and a family going hungry. We are especially grateful to our transportation providers for ensuring students arrive at school and return home again safely each day. Drivers, matrons, bus pairs, nurses, they all deserve better. Uh, the inability to hire transportation professionals is a reflection of inadequate salaries in a competitive job market. However, the significant transportation issues in the last
few years are an indication that the current contract is not meeting the needs of our children with disabilities. As a side note, children with disabilities have never had the same access to afterschool programs denying them recreation and socialization opportunities and families critical afterschool support. So while there are steps New York City Public Schools can and should take now to improve bus service, many meaningful changes that address the needs of students with disabilities will require new bus contracts. The current bus contract isn't working in the city should not extend it for more than a year. We need new bus contracts that can provide students with high quality, safe and reliable bus service. We reject any current efforts to prevent students
with disabilities from accessing their mandated education and services, and we support an immediate solution. There's more, but thank you very much. Really appreciate the opportunity, um, to speak tonight on behalf of 44 tens and eight 50 threes. Thank you. The next speaker is Tomas Fret. Hi, good evening. Good evening. My name is Thomas Fret, president of a TU Local 1181 members. This is just to clarify some, uh, inaccuracies that have been floating around the city. The Employee Protection Provisions, they still exist in 60 to 65% of the contracts between the bus companies and the DOE.
All legacy companies have epps in the contracts with the DDOE as we speak now we need, we need what it is a five year extensions before voting it down. We should know what's in the this contract before voting it down. Rebids are not the answer at the moment to an industry that's suffering. It is time for the city to get serious and sit with the vendors and include the unions to fix school busing. There should only be a bid for new work, such as Project three 6:00 PM out 10 weekends is the union's understanding that much of the accountability and enhanced technology has already been addressed
and agreed to in this last agreement, instead of immediately rejecting a five year extension that was agreed by between the DOE and the parties involved and the negotiation sessions, let's look at what's included in the five year contracts. Let's look into the amounts of complaints that are submitted to OPT versus the majority that are not. Because of the professional and experienced school bus workers that move the city and the legacy companies that understand and know how the industry in general works. A two U local 1181 strongly supports the proposed five year extension.
It is the best, the best path forward to support our members, the workforce, as well as the students provide stability and address the growing challenges facing the school bus industry. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Reen Simpson, who I don't see here. So move on to Samantha Casper, who is also not here. Ali Bo Cola Ade. I don't see Nathan Fields. Alexis Foot, Neil
Straw, please unmute. Good afternoon or good evening. My name is Neil Stroll and I've had the privilege of serving on the Amalgamated Transit Union Pension Board for more than 25 years now as its secretary. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify the importance of the Employee Protection Provision or EPP in New York City's school bus system. Contrary to popular belief, the EPP is currently included in the legacy school bus contracts that expired on June 30th, 2025. This provision safeguards the jobs, seniority, and pensions of the drivers in attendance who safely transport our children and ensures continuity for schools,
families, and the city's transportation network. We've seen what happens when that protection is weakened. In 2015, a company won routes through an artificially low bid based on plans to cut costs on the backs of labor. When it became clear, those savings would not materialize and the company could not sustain its operation, it collapsed and was facing at the time a massive pension withdrawal liability of over a hundred million dollars. The city was ultimately forced to take over now operating his nice bus after the operator paid the city a nominal amount to assume control and that liability
through a city run bus company that was given a five year extension at the time by the DOE and the PP because they knew that was the only way a company would've any chance of succeeding. I know this to be factual, not from newspaper stories or hearsay, but because I was directly involved in those proceedings from start to finish to ensure that the pension fund was protected even with fewer rules and restrictions than long standing operators. NICE bus provides inferior service and costs the city over 30% more per day, and now sits with an unfunded pension liability
that is undoubtedly larger than over the a hundred million dollars when it took over in 2020. Just two years earlier, another company went bankrupt during the Christmas break, leaving the city to cover nearly $80 million in unfunded pension liabilities simply to keep buses running. These examples make one thing clear. Employee protection plan isn't an obstacle, it's a safeguard. If the EPP were part of a new open bid, every responsible company would've to build in hundreds of millions of dollars and potential liabilities driving up cost to the city without improving service. The good news is that the solution is already in place
through a contract extension with the City of New York, we've achieved a framework that strengthened service, accountability and stability without tearing down a functioning system and gambling with the safety and reliability of school bus transportation for the children and parents of New York City. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Corey Muirhead. Good evening. My name is, is this all? Yes. Great, thank you. Good evening. My name is Corey Muirhead from Logan Bus Company. I wanna make one thing clear to every parent in New York City, we hear you.
We acknowledge your concerns and we share your concerns. We are working hard to serve your children safely and reliably, but we've been left out of many important conversations that directly impact your families and our employees. True transparency means everyone has a seat at the table. The PEP parent organizations, the DOE unions, and yes, the bus operators who make the system run. Without that collaboration, we can't build the trust and stability Our students deserve a few facts. Bus contractors do not control routing, pick up times or route lengths. We have no say on the driver certification process,
and we were not included in the development of the parent tracking app. Even though we were offered repeatedly, we offered repeatedly to assist and be a part of the solution. We were not the ones who made the decision to shut down the school bus industry for four months leading to the driver shortage. We are still working to overcome today at a 2022 City Council hearing, the DOE itself acknowledged they were laid off during a pandemic with no wages, no pension, no and no healthcare. We have a fair bit of work to do to reestablish trust. Five years ago, this panel approved an ice bus contract. That operational costs the city more than 30% more than the
legacy contractors, and they're still not held to the same accountability standards this panel wants for us because NICE bus does not face violations for non-performance. 14 bid bus companies have gone under. And each time that has happened, it was the legacy contractors who stepped up to keep the routes running. This past August 200 routes were left uncovered by bid companies, and again, the legacy operators ensured that students made it to school. So the question is, what would a new bid accomplish that this five year agreement does not? Our contracts already have the EPP now, they will have significant accountability enhancements
through expanded staffing and mandatory reporting and meeting attendance electric vehicles, and over $350 million in MWBE spend over the past two years. We have submitted proposals for after school weekend and summer Rising. Each time the DOE decline, we also urge them twice to bid the workout. I know that school busting has been a topic of concern for many groups. It feels unusual to introduce myself when so much time has already been set about transportation. Yet this panel has not reached out to those of us who operate the buses every day for any type of collaboration. It is fair to ask why a transportation commission was formed
in late September after the contract expired in June. For the record, I did ask to serve on this commission, but was denied. It took 11 months to negotiate our contract with City Hall and DOE. This agreement provides accountability, stability, and security for thousands of school bus workers and for every New York City family That depends on us. It's time to end the uncertainty and it's time to move forward together. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next speaker is, uh, Laura Simpson. Uh, hello. Good evening. Uh, my name's Laura Simpson. I'm a parent in District 30 and I serve on CC 30.
But tonight I'm speaking as a parent who lives with this broken system every day. Uh, PTAC asked us how we would improve transparency and support. So I'll tell you what it looks like from the ground. Uh, for me, real transparency means parents could trust the data. And right now we can't. At my son's school, parents use air tags and backpacks, WhatsApp groups, um, to track buses because the city's $36 million GPS app fails constantly. Or the bus driver doesn't turn it on. It's not a communication problem. It's a trust problem. And here's why we don't trust it.
Like bus companies self-report their own delays. Gothamist documented 24 parent complaints on a single route that vanished from official data. When the companies grade their own homework. Families learn to rely on air tags, tiles, life 360, whatever. Instead, for me, real transparency is independent verification of delays and no-shows, public dashboards with route level performance data that families could actually access mandatory reporting of every complaint, not just the ones the companies choose to log. Like honestly, like my kid was getting jumped on the bus
and the, I had to have him tell me that the bus driver acted like nothing happened. Uh, anyway, uh, how can, um, so how can we best support the kids on bus, on the bus? Start with the suits who can't afford another failure? So I've been digging in, uh, getting more research on this. It's 65% of yellow bus driver. Uh, riders have disabilities. They can't just figure out when the buses don't show students experiencing homelessness have federal transportation rights, yet they're regularly stranded, forced to choose between school stability and their housing crisis.
Uh, for me, my son, last summer, the summer rising bus would arrive like an hour and a half early and they told us it's gonna take two hours to go two miles, and he should pack up ice so that he could be on this un air conditioned bus. And also he would've to leave at three. So he would miss all the intertainment at the end. To me, real support is buses with working air conditioning service for after school and summer programs, accountability metrics. Also, this week a bus driver gave a flyer saying that the parents need to intervene so
that they could keep their jobs. And that's hostage taking and ridiculous. Um, honestly, I have no respect for the companies that have done this, and it's just a money grab so that they can keep their $2 billion in public money as opposed to adding real improvements. Thank you. Thank you. The next, um, speaker is Matthew Harnish, who is logged in several times. So I'm going to unmute one of you, and if you could raise your hand if there's a different one of you, Matthew.
Okay, Matthew, I'll come back to you. Just raise your hand with, um, the correct login. Uh, next is, uh, Janine Marucci. Good evening. Um, my name is Janine Marucci. I am a teacher with the New York City, uh, public school system for over 20 years. Um, we rely on our school buses to get our children back and forth to school safely and on time. Um, as I look at the commission members, I'm failing to see anyone from the bus companies being represented here this evening.
Um, it says that we want diversity of voice and advocacy for improving student transportation, but without all parties coming to the table. How do we get to serve our children better without all of the key players being, um, present for us? Um, some, for some of our children, the consistency and stability of their bus is what they look forward to every day. For some children, that's their only consistency in stability. That, and coming to school, um, we need these buses. We rely on them for school trips. It's, it's just so important.
And if these children do not have it, how do they get to school? Some of them have IEPs where these children can't be on buses for longer hours, but we don't have schools in our areas that service them, so they're the ones that suffer. Um, when we call OPT, we tell parents, you know, try OPT, try to get them rerouted. It just seems to go nowhere. Um, I've dealt with members of the bus companies directly. They always seem to be helpful in understanding. Um, the drivers that I've dealt with on a daily basis and attendance are, are always so pleasant.
They take care of our children. When our children come off the bus, they when goodbye and tell them, I'll see you later. Um, like I said, our children just need this stability and this consistency in their life, and I just hope that we can come to some sort of agreement. And again, I really do feel that maybe some of these bus companies should have been asked to be members of this committee and commission so that we could have had all of the players available to speak and be in place. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is
Shay, John Shay, John Fuller, who I don't see. Let's move on to Joseph Gro, who I don't see. Chad already spoke. Um, Matt Berlin, Johanna Gomez. Um, okay. Matthew Harnish. Go ahead, Matthew. Okay. So I think you unmuted, uh, me. This is Joseph Scro who is here. Um, can you guys hear me? Oh, yeah. Your, you, your name is on screen as Matthew Harnish. Okay. That's strange. Um, good evening. My name is Joseph Scro, senior Vice President
for Total Transportation Corp. And I thank you for giving me the chance to speak here today. I come here in an attempt to dispel some of the misconceptions regarding the school bus vendors and the New York City School bus system as a whole. Over the course of the last few weeks, we have watched, as we were called, privileged in the media accused of holding students hostage and engaging in bad faith and told in no uncertain terms by the Panel for educational policy, who had no intention of even considering the approval of a long-term deal for our contracts. Now, I wanna be clear, we also heard the various accounts from parents and advocates, uh, as to their own experiences with school bus transportation.
The public is right to challenge us to do better. However, it's worth noting that the vast majority of these issues were things that like routing, elongated travel times, and crowded buses, which are all outside of the school bus company's control. We remain committed to doing our part in improving the service, but let's not, let's not misrepresent a bid as being this magic wand capable of curing all the system shortcomings. As you're well aware, these contracts have historically been extended in lieu of being bid, but the notion that extensions mean that contracts are intrinsically out
of date is extremely misguided. There have been various enhancements to these contracts over the years that have allowed us to keep pace with new requirements and technologies that are now available in the industry. The school bus companies have spent the past 12 months engaging in negotiations with New York City Board of Ed with the assistance of the Mayor's office. We did so in good faith and a five-year contract extension was reached in June of 2025, a contract extension that includes increased training requirements, investment in over 200 electric vehicles, purchases for minority and women owned businesses to the tune of $340 million in enhanced staffing
and accountability, including providing DOE with access to our call center statistics, all to be used in conjunction with past contract enhancements such as AC requirements, maximum vehicle ages GPS requirements and parent tracking technologies. The negotiations have been finalized and an agreement has been reached yet when the materials for the PET meeting became available, our five-year contract extension or any contract extension past the end of this month was inexplicably missing from the agenda. So here we stand on the verge of a crisis, a crisis that compromises one of the most imperative core values we hold in this industry.
Care for our students to clarify any risks to stoppage of service and relate is related to a lapse in a contract, not a strike. The companies, the labor unions, the Department of Education and City Hall are all in agreement that a five year deal is what's best for everybody involved. Instead of a blind opposition to this idea, I implore the panel to educate themselves about the benefits of this deal to stop romanticizing a bid and to vote yes to five years of stability and safety for the students of this city. Thank you. Thank you. The next, uh, speaker is
would be, uh, Matt Berlin. Johanna Gomez. We don't see, um, Jack Simpson. I don't see so Yamir rudder. Yes, please unmute. Hi, good evening. Um, so, um, yes, mayor Rodriguez. I work for a foster care agency. Um, I'm a middle school education specialist, so I work on, um, uh, doing the transportation requests, helping foster families, um, in that, um, manner, uh, not to mention other things, but, um, just the biggest issues
that we've been having this school year has been the busing, uh, just like many parents have said. Um, and other people here have said, um, the issue is that these kids are not being routed. Um, uh, tickets are not being pushed through. We're getting the runaround from OPT, um, with communication, uh, to the school. And, and it's a, it's a whole back and forth of OPT, the school and the foster care agency on, um, who's responsible and, and, and trying to find a solution.
Um, and the issue is that these, these students, uh, foster care students, you know, uh, they're missing school and, and, and they're very vulnerable to, To attending school and having the resources already set for them. So the issues that we've been just having is finding a route, um, you know, pushing these tickets through, and it's still, we're about to be in November, and some of these students do not have routes. Um, so that's the big issues that we've been having is the miscommunication, who
to communicate with, um, foster care, foster care liaisons who are responsible, uh, to follow up with these requests are not following up with the requests. Um, so we just need more transparency, uh, between OPT and foster care agency so that we can better support our foster care youth, um, ensuring that they're attending school on a timely, um, manner, on a consistent basis so that they are not missing in instruc instruct instruction time. Um, so yeah, we just need more transparency.
We need things to change, um, and we just need, you know, reform. So, um, thank you for letting me speak and, um, have a good evening. All. Thank you. Uh, the next, uh, public commenter, uh, is Jennifer Za Moody. I don't see, um, Melissa Braverman. Aha. Elizabeth Burnell. Um, y please unmute.
Hi, good evening everyone. Can you hear me? Yes. Yeah. Hi. Um, so good evening everyone. Um, my name is Ying Yong. So I'm the Vice President of the Citywide Council and Special Education. Uh, I'm glad to see it one eighth night and because of the school bus company are threatening to shut down and our children are now in a crisis over the past few months and after I filled the c since this July, I have received hundreds of email message or phone calls from parents just about the school bus problem.
And I am so we are focusing on special education. So we know that some children has been stuck at home for months just because they have no transportation. And there are student with severe seizure who cannot take the bus just simply because their med medication schedule doesn't match the bus schedule and sometimes just 10 minutes difference to make impossible. So I reach out to the OBT, I reach out to everyone, but it, we just cannot figure out a solution for, for, for this poor kid, for which have, uh,
who had their severe seizure problem. And then even though they were our solution after months. So the, the mom applied, applied the LTT through the OSH office and they, it take eight months or 10 months to approve the LTT to only 75 minutes. So even though the LTT is 75 minutes, we, we will consider it is a big problem or big issue in our busing system. So, because they even cannot guarantee the safety or the other other need for those vulnerable kids
with special education, we all know that when children with special needs who cannot attend to school, they fall behind. And many parents have to leave work in the middle of the day to pick up their children just because the bus, um, broke down on the way to school and they have to pick up the kid from, from, from, from the broken bus. And they're are too many story like this. We have all heard about our, uh, them during this meeting and we all like, we all lift them. I don't need to say more. And we are not here
to blame anyone, but just to find a real solution. And this is, uh, more than 40 years old, outdated contract and everyone is suffering from this. So we really need to move forward and, and see a solution. Thank you. Thank you. The next, uh, oh, the next public speaker is Fran Rodriguez Collins. Hi, can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Good afternoon. Um, I'm here to speak about my 8-year-old brother. Um, he has Down syndrome, profound autism,
global developmental delays, is wheelchair bound and has an IEP that mandates door to door transportation. He has not attended school for this entire school year, not one single day. And the reason is simple. No bus ever came on the first day of school. We waited. My mom my brother in his chair, fully dressed with his backpack, ready to see his new teachers, and the bus never arrived since then, after months of calls, emails begging for help, nothing has changed. He's still home, still waiting. We have contacted the school, the office of, um, pupil Transportation, contacted advocacy centers, lawyers,
therapists, case managers, everyone you can think of. And the response is the same. There's a bus driver shortage. It's not in our hands. There's no drivers in, in your route. Everyone passes the blame. No one takes responsibility. And while the system delays and deflects my brother, an eight-year-old disabled child in entitled by law. So transportation is denied the right to education. This is not a small inconvenience, it's a direct violation of his IP and his civil rights. The only so-called solution we have been offered is a rideshare service.
No, no one that requires a parent or adult to physically lift him into and out of a car. That is not a solution. My mother and I work full-time. My father and grandmother are elderly and physically unable to lift them or transfer a wheelchair bound child in and out of a vehicle. So what, so what we are being told in practice is that unless we can do the impossible, my brother simply does not get to go to school. He's suffering emotionally, physically, academically, socially. For a child with profound autism, routine is everything. School is not just a building, it's therapy, communication,
practice, skill development, interaction growth. Keeping him home is not neutral. It's complete regression. As others have already said. We have done everything that has been asked of us. We have documented, we have done the little super reports that they give us a little case number, and no one ever calls. We have followed the process. We have reached out to every office, every person we have been directed to, and the system has failed him. So today, I don't wanna hear like excuses or sympathy, whatever. There has to be some type of action, a wheelchair accessible door-to-door school bus so he can attend school like any other child.
He deserve dignity, access, and no more excuses. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Lucy Han, who? I don't see Ling Al. I don't see Sean Crowley. Please unmute. Hi, how are you? Um, I just wanna, just wanna speak. I I work very closely with the bus companies and I think one of the, one of the issues here that I think is, is loud and clear heard is the voice of those special Ed's parents, uh, you know, parents of special ed students.
And, and I think people need to know that this particular contract is gonna call for, uh, for students with special needs. They're gonna have, they're gonna have a driver who they're familiar with. They, they want, we wanna, we wanna, we wanna keep the eyes on, on, on that to reduce delays, improve on time performance, allow for smooth transition from bus to school, have a consistency of drivers, as I said, that helps students start the day with a positive tone, helping students arrive at school ready to engage. So the contractors are well aware that the city
and them have negotiated this. And look, we just, we, we, we ask, uh, we understand PE-people, uh, this, this is a big issue for people. We understand that, but we are listening to you. We want, we want you to know that. I think it's important also for people to know that we're looking at having 200 electric buses here as well. And that, um, with respect to the parent tracking application that would be available with, with real time GPS. This, this gives us, this gives a tremendous amount of accountability because if, um, in the contract, because for if, if, if there's a consi,
if there's a consistent, uh, failure to perform, um, that routes can be pulled from vendors for noncompliance. So there's gonna be real accountability here. And I just think that, that people should be aware of that. And I thank you for your time. Thank you. The next speaker is Heather Sullivan. Heather, it looks like you're unmuted, but we can't hear you. So, um, um, maybe you're having technical difficulties. You could try, um, just checking your audio settings to make sure they're connected to, um, your speaking. Oh, hello.
Hi. I am sorry about that. There you are. Okay. My, my son is almost 17. He has an IEP, um, with mandated limited time travel because of medical issues. Um, this situation with the bus has become a real crisis for, for our family. Um, we feel that him being on the bus for an hour and 45 minutes to two hours and 15, today was two hours and 20 minutes that it took him to get to school. Um, he really loves school. He wants to be there.
He's excited for this, uh, junior year. And he's, he now doesn't wanna go to school anymore. His in anxiety is, um, has increased tremendously. Uh, we live six miles away, and in the past six years, we've never had this problem with the bus, fortunately. Um, and he, he always got to school on time. Of course, there were instances where there were delays for weather or traffic. Um, but typically he always got to school on time. Um, after being on the bus for an hour
and 45 minutes to two hours, there's no time to transition to class. He's, he's late every day. Um, he's supposed to, his homeroom starts at, at eight 20 and he is getting to school at nine o'clock and nine 15. So he is missing, he's missing classes, he's missing services. Um, the one thing that's new this year that we see is problematic is the bus is going to another school. Last year, he used to get home, um, by three 30, you know, sometime later if there was a problem.
But now he gets home at four 30. Um, it's just so much time on the school bus when we live so close, and we've never had that problem before. I've filed dozens of complaints with OPT, they responded to the school. They did one GPS in, uh, investigation, responding to the school, not to me. And there was no communication. There was no way for me to ask any questions. And it was interesting that their response gave me arrival time, I'm sorry,
departure time from home and arri no arrival time just said that he was on time. Um, but he wasn't on time. It's not su sustainable for us to drive him to school. And we really are desperate for, uh, solutions. Thank you. Thank you. The, uh, the next speaker, we could go back, uh, to Lucy. Huh? Thank you. So sorry about that. I, my name is Lucy Han. I am a parent for two kids that relies on the public transportation.
Uh, one goes to, uh, district 31 goes to district 25, and I live in District 28, so definitely rely on a bus. Very much so. I am, I don't think I'm here to, by the way, I gave a shout out to Total Transportation. I do think they are very good. The bus drivers, the May train even the company itself is, we, we've been on, my son's been using the bus for over three, four years. And this is the first year that, that our bus company is not total transportation. My daughter's bus still to gen bus thing, still giant busing, still low transportation. I think a lot of the issue here is I really hoping
from the bus company, the drivers, the, and the DOE and the, the parents group to really come together on the table and really go through all the contracts. It either, I, I work in finance, but either one year, two year, even the five year, like needs to, even just with a five year contract, they need to hold accountability for the, for everyone. Like I have, my son has busing issue this earlier this year, I was on the phone with the, the queen special education router. I have to literally help him understand the traffic pattern
in my neighborhood in Forest Hill, where the routing was crossing three different crossing Queens Boulevard, three different, five different times at the most injection time. Yes, my son was on a bus for, uh, 75 minutes where he had a limited travel tire, 40 minutes. He's autistic, by the way. So it's, a lot of it is not, it's like, the way I look at it is information asymmetry. So the parents know that your own child is your biggest concern. So, but I also know that from a perspective, like the router, router doesn't know the traffic,
find the one-way street, the the garbage truck, all that stuff. But the driver does the bus. And then I really hope the best company could really kind of talk to the OPT and give feedbacks and allow feedbacks. Like the drivers are the ones on the ground. They know the travel pattern. They know, they know it's not, you have to drop when the, the drop off order. Some of the drop order does not make sense, but the drivers has, you know, and the company itself has no saying in any of the routing. Like, I talked to the router, we fixed the routing.
Now my son's busing is 30 minutes, and then no one have to be dropped on a bus. But it's literally, but like, how do you, like, I don't know the contract. I never read the contract. I, I, I don't really fully completely understand the history of the, of the, the, the five A contract. But I do understand the bus company. It is a for-profit company that they do need. Thank you. I need to pay for all that stuff. But I just wanna make sure that people come together instead of telling, now I'm trying to scrambling to figure out what to do. Um, next Monday. That's the people are just, uh, sorry.
Thank you. Um, the next public commenter is, uh, Kenji Williams. You don't see Heather Daley? Hello? Can you guys hear me? Yes. Hi. Um, I think you guys skipped Adriana. Alicia, I just wanna put that out there. Maybe she can go after me. Um, uh, so I, I'm also serve as a, um, co-vice president, uh, of the Citywide Council on Special Education, and most specifically as the chair of our busing and Transportation committee for, um,
this will be my third term. And, um, my son, just to give, I, I'm not gonna speak on behalf of CCSE, but I can give you some information on what it's been like as an advocate on the CCSE, um, fielding hundreds of, um, busing concerns from parents. Um, and I, I can resonate with the parents here. When you call the OPT, I don't call it the helpline. I call it a call center. Um, because that person is just answering the phone to fill out a ticket request. And oftentimes parents will fill tickets out day after day after day, and they don't hear from OPT. And the ones that I've been able to help are
because they've emailed, um, our council directly and we, um, can contact OPT leadership and then things get, um, get seen and taken care of, and parents get information. And it's not fair that, um, some parents who don't have that access to me per se, or other advocates that are able to do that, don't have the same equity in getting their, their, um, their problems resolved. I think there's big issues with the routing. The system that they're using to route buses is archaic. Um, with the technology that we have.
Um, I can take an Uber share and they'll pick up three people, um, in various different places, and they all live in my neighborhood and get dropped off there. Why can't the routing be, have systems that use that, that, you know, to make sure they're efficient. Um, the other thing I just wanna remind folks on the panel here is that when you hear one story from a parent here, um, that that doesn't happen, um, in, in isolation, there are other children on that bus with that child who are also experiencing the same things. Um, the schools are quick to call a CS and a parent for not sending their
school, their kid to school. But it's okay for a child to miss school for three months because of busing issues. And that's not an issue for them. You know? Um, it's a violation of their civil rights. Um, the other thing I wanted to to say is like, my son didn't get afterschool busing because his afterschool program got out late. We don't have his program in our neighborhood. So he started taking the bus and the train home when he was in fifth grade, um, as a disabled, um, student, uh, so that I could get childcare for afterschool. So they need busing for afterschool Saturdays
for our students with disabilities and in temporary housing. Thank you. Um, and, uh, just a note that, um, Adriana, Alicia chose not to speak. The next, um, speaker is Lucy Andro, who I don't see in the room or ine Fernandez. So we'll move on to Michelle c Michelle, please unmute. Okay, we'll move on. Oh, Mich, Michelle, your, your audio is enabled. Can you unmute? Okay. We can come back to you. Um, if you're having technical difficulties, we'll move on
to Leon Giron. Hi, someone. Hi. Good evening everyone. My name is Leon Gijon. I want to start off by addressing the young lady, Ms. Carmen and the young lady Galen. I wanna personally apologize to Ms. Carmen. She was stated that she was taking chemo and radiation and she's having difficulties with her bus company. And to Ms. Galen, basically she was stating that it takes four hours out of the day for her child to get two and from school.
And I want to personally let you let you two know, I hear you guys story and you guys are the reason why I agreed to even join the PTAC. Um, those two stories really touched me. 'cause it's really unacceptable for any parent or child to have to go through those two situations, um, to the bus company. I mean, I've heard, I believe two guys who represent bus companies. I want to say you guys are the first two people who represent bus companies that actually gave a testimony,
that showed some sort of concern for the children. And I want you guys to really know that's why this contract situation hasn't been resolved. You, you guys come here and you demand a five year contract, but none of you guys statements really show any concern for the children. And that's the head Sharing Problem of the situation. It, it is not about just parents. What about these kids? I, I was speaking to, um, Mr. Faulkner the other day,
and I actually told him, to me, this sounds like athletes. If you an athlete and you in a contract, yeah, you go outta your way to do your best. So when you sit at the table, you can negotiate your contracts. And I think that's the point that the bus company is forgetting. You, you, god's are demanding a five year contract, but your service don't reflect that. And if you guys are so confident in your service, what's so wrong with taking a two or three year contract, then you could come back and negotiate a five year contract.
I think you guys need to realize these parents and these children can't afford to wait another five years for you guys to give the same service where we'll be sitting here again with the same problems, same situation. We can't afford another five years of that. So why not take less, earn your stripes. Thank you. Um, okay. We're going to, um, go back, um, through the list for a few folks that may, um,
have joined us, um, since the meeting began. Um, so I'm just going to quickly go through some folks that we do, um, see in the room. Uh, and you could, uh, raise your hand if you see your name on the list as well. Uh, Irene carna. Can you hear me? Yes. Hi, how are you? Uh, so, um, the same thing with me. I have a 15-year-old. I had transportation issues since September 4th until
October 20th. Um, she experienced repeated late arrivals safety concerns on reliable tracking. Um, I address, uh, disability of New York, PCD 75 school administrators. Um, I had to contact Channel 12 to raise awareness about the issue. Um, the lack of compliance with her IEP. Um, there was no communication with OPT. Of course, it significantly impacted her education. She was missing ELA classes, getting to class late all the time. Um, and as we all know, a child widow,
autism requires structure, consistency. Um, and even though I went through all that, um, she was still getting to school late. So my last resort was to reach out to our councilwoman, who now, um, got us a new route and a new bus. And she's gotten to school for four days on time. Um, that's not guaranteeing that we're gonna have success for the rest of the year, but all in all, the concerns and frustration about the transportation issues, um,
are really, really bad. They're unacceptable. There is no type of resolution. Um, nobody cares, nobody calls back. There's no accountability, is chaotic and very stressful for the families. We too had to scramble on some day whether my husband is gonna take her, whether I'm gonna take her, whether the bus is coming. It's inappropriate, it's a violation of their rights. I have spoken to everybody that I can basically speak to. Like I said, I was even, even on the tv.
And nobody wants to support. Nobody wants to help the parents. Something needs to be done. This system is broken. Thank you. Um, okay, we're just going to pause for a moment and check in, um, with the language rooms, uh, in particularly, uh, I for Spanish and Mandarin. But Michelle c has signed up for Spanish. So can we have an interpreter make an announcement English, um, zoom room as well
about Spanish interpretation. Thank you. Okay, Thank you. Carolina, could you, um, ask for Michelle? Um, Michelle. Michelle? Yeah. Michelle. Esta. Okay. I am not seeing them in the room anymore. Michelle. Michelle. Not in the language line either. Okay. All right. Thank you. We'll, um, we'll now go back to Susie Wong. Benjamin. Hello. Hi, how are you? Thank you. Can you hear me okay? Yes, we can hear you.
Okay. I'm so sorry. I couldn't tell. All right. Thank you so much. Yes. My name is Suzy Wong Benjamin, and I actually am, uh, uh, co-chair on SLT at P 5 96 X. And I'm also, uh, a part of the, uh, citywide Council special education along with Heather and Mr. Jung. Um, so I just, oh, and also Mr. Mark is here as well too. Uh, so I just wanted to, uh, make mention that I do have two sons that do attend the P 5 96 X School.
And we do use the Logan Bus Company, little Richie, of course, all the parents receive notices about a possible interruption in service, um, due to suspension. And it does have a lot of parents on edge. On top of that, uh, possible interruption, we're dealing with issues with OPT, addressing complaints, um, safety issues, concerns of, uh, proper and professional conduct with, uh, matrons drivers. Um, where parents are not being contacted
as the previous mom had said, where you are given a pickup time and that's not always being adhered to. And if the bus is running late, you are not being notified as a parent that they're running late, or if they're coming early, you're not being notified and they're sticking to a two minute wait time. And some bus companies only a one minute wait time. And they do not seem to realize that the service, the purpose of the school busing, service and transportation, is to transport our children with special needs to the District 75 school
and having patience and understanding and realizing that they need to work with children and the families involved in bringing the children on site. Um, issues with OPT, and I know Ms. Heather had said this, and she's correct, it's more of a call center. Um, tickets are being opened. They're being closed on the same day without any type of investigation or any type of resolution, and parents are not being contacted. We also need to address the fact that with the school bus app, many times it is not working properly.
Many times the drivers have not logged on. And you're also dealing with issues where OPT can make things easier by integrating that school bus app to be a more accurate GPS tracker. So you can track the bus and see where they are in real time, and being able to complace place those complaints directly onto the school bus app. Everything does. We do need to get to a resolution. We're gonna do everything we can, uh, as part of the council and citywide special education. Thank you. I would like to Buy. Thank you.
Uh, next, um, we see ENA alum. Would you like to make a comment? Ena? Okay, we'll go to, um, Margaret Arroyo. Hi. Yes. So I have a son that special needs, and he is been taking the bus since 2023. I had no problem that year, but the last two years has been a problem. He's been late. They've been going to other schools, picking up students there, making my son late. I think it's, it's a problem also between the schools
and the bus companies. So they have to figure out a way of communicating that way. 'cause one, the school tells you, oh, you have to contact bus companies. And the bus company tells, oh, you have to contact the school. I mean, that, that's a problem in itself. 'cause they're, I know they're two separate entities, but they actually work together in getting the students to school and back home. And I, yeah, I really hope that they come to a decision on their contract. 'cause this, it's been years and years of this going back and forth and just, they have to be held accountable.
The bus companies and the schools will also, they need to work together with these companies. 'cause it's really, it's really ridiculous the whole situation. I just, Don gets resolved soon. Thank you. Thank you. Um, okay, that brings us to the end of the, um, our regular speaker list. Uh, could we now have any commission members who would like to speak? I, Uh, before we move to the next section, I would like to acknowledge all the participants.
I want to, uh, thank you on behalf of the commission. Uh, and I want to let you know that we'll take all of your suggestions, all of your concerns seriously. And we really appreciate your, uh, coming and taking your time to express your concerns with us and your suggestions with us. Um, at this time. If it is also, I would like to ask Noah, uh, to just, uh, mention one more time, uh, that the places we have advertised these meetings, and if anybody has not submitted their testimonies,
what would be the best way to submit it? So we also have written public comment, and I can drop that link in the chat. And if anyone wants to follow up from this meeting or feel like you didn't have enough time at this meeting, we'll, I'll pop that link here in the chat so that you can upload your testimony there as well. And that will go directly to all commission members. And Noah, can you also just mention that you did, uh, you did share with me that, that you will extensively send all the links and communications to all different schools and various places, uh, to make sure that we hear from everybody else.
Uh, can you just mention some of the things that you have taken? So we sent this information out to all CECs, uh, principals and schools to share with their school leadership teams, SLTs and district leadership teams, DLTs, as well as, uh, local elected officials, uh, as well as the Panel for educational policy who will receive the rec formal recommendations from this commission, uh, prior to the November meeting. Thank you Noah. And I want to thank all the commission members as well. And at this time, if it is possible to hear a brief, uh,
statements or if you want to share anything, uh, anywhere, member of the panel, please raise you. Uh, your hands are this way. Uh, Rebecca can acknowledge you and then you can take it from there. I see, uh, Christina Collins. Thanks Rebecca. And, and thanks to everyone who came in, spoke at this. I see we still have so many of our attendees who've stayed for the full time to, to hear these testimonies. They've been so powerful. Um, just to introduce myself briefly, I am Christina Collins. I'm Director of Education Policy at the United Federation of Teachers.
Um, we're really concerned about the these stories. I go to the pep every month. I've heard from many of you at those meetings, and many of these stories I'm hearing now tonight, echo things that have been concerns for years. And I speak for myself and I think for all the other members of the commission, when I said, we're all committed to, uh, solving these problems. It's overdue and whatever it takes, uh, to, to make sure that your children do, uh, have safe and reliable transportation
and have access to their full educational opportunities. Uh, the other commission members and I are are committed to, to doing that. So thank you again for your time and, and your testimony. And please do, uh, submit written testimony, uh, at the link that's been shared in the chat. We are going to use that as part of our recommendation process. Anyone else from our commission members? Anybody wants to share? Any thoughts? Uh, we have two hands. Uh, I see Randy, Randy, if you wanna Yeah, go ahead.
Thank you. Good evening. My name is Randy Levine. I'm policy director of Advocates for Children of New York. I wanna thank you first for the opportunity to serve on the People Transportation Advisory Commission. And I wanna thank everyone so much who came tonight and spoke with us. I wanna especially thank the parents who shared such powerful stories this evening, as I've noted in the past. All that I can add is that you are not alone. During these past two months alone, advocates for Children has received dozens
and dozens of calls from families with significant complaints about bus service. Students arriving after their first or even second class has already ended students on buses for so long that they're getting sick or missing their afternoon therapies. Students missing days, or even weeks of school, parents left scrambling, missing work, their jobs at risk. And as you heard tonight, we have gotten calls from families whose children have not started school yet this year because there's been no bus in place. And in those cases, even after Advocates for Children has gotten involved,
we've been told that there's no bus company to pick up the route. This crisis hits hurt us for students with disabilities, students who are homeless and students in foster care. Students who are more likely to live further from school, more likely to depend on school bus service, and who have a legal right to receive it. As an organization focused on education, we want to spend our time advocating for what happens inside the classroom, ensuring students have the support they need to thrive. But instead, we are forced to spend our time and energy fighting just to make sure students can get
to school in the first place. This needs to change. There's plenty of blame to go around, as we've heard tonight, and plenty of change that needs to take place as we've also heard tonight. And so there is no doubt that there are immediate steps that the New York City Department of Education can and must take themselves to improve transportation. Now we have many recommendations, and we've also been calling on the city to overhaul and rebid. Its 46-year-old school bus contracts because we need updates
and improvements and the chance for additional vendors. It's bad policy and bad governance to keep extending and extending the contracts. When we hear from parents about ineffective bus service again and again, we are deeply concerned that certain bus companies are threatening to disrupt bus service for children and families in the middle of the school year, causing children to miss school and parents to scramble, causing major turmoil for families. We hope that vendors seeking to continue providing school bus service long term will demonstrate a commitment to putting children and families first, will continue bus service uninterrupted
and will work to ensure a smooth process for making the improvements needed to provide on-time, safe and reliable bus service. We look forward to working with all of you to create the transportation system our students and families deserve. Thank you again to everyone for being here tonight and speaking, and we look forward to working together to create change ahead. Thank you. Thank you. See Leon. Uh, would you like to share a few more words and then Yes, I wanna, um, thank everybody for coming out. I want to especially thank the parents
and I want you guys to know the commission. Hear you. We hear you, we hear you, and we hear you. We are here to fight for you guys for the students. And I want the bus companies to realize too, you guys cannot come to the table and demand things when you, tonight's meeting shows overall, there's a real issue here. You guys service is poor. I, I don't think I've heard, but maybe one or two parents tonight really stand up and kind of defend these bus companies overall.
Everybody else had terrible stories to, to say. And for you guys to threaten to cut service November 1st. And with tonight's testimony, I think that's poor negotiation tactics. You guys need to understand the overall issue here. And if you guys are so confident in your service, I don't understand why a two or three year contract can't suffice. You gotta earn five year contracts. You gotta earn what you demand. You gotta step up.
This is not a yesterday's problem. This is not a tomorrow's problem. This is a problem that's been reoccurring for years and it's unacceptable. I hear you bus companies, all of you guys want a piece of the cake, but I don't hear any of you guys saying, what can you do to bake this cake? You guys all want the crumbs around your mouth, but I didn't haven't heard one of you guys say, what can we do to help bake this cake? You guys gotta step it up. It's unacceptable. These kids are suffering. And I personally can't speak on it because I'm fortunate enough that my kids aren't taking bus.
But I have neighbors, I have family members, I have friends. And it's sad the stories that I'm hearing. You guys really, really, really need to take accountability and look yourself in the mirror and say what's more important. And I think everybody here tonight can agree these children are the most important throughout this whole ordeal. Not a five year contract. But you guys to threaten to cut service is a testimony to the parents here tonight that you guys main concern is not the children. Before you sit at a table to negotiate, you need
to eradicate the problem. Then you can make demands. And that's all I have to say. You, uh, next, uh, is Aya bark. Please, uh, share your thoughts. Thank you folks. Uh, my name is Naya Berg Pronoun. She, her, I am the executive director at a nonprofit called New York Apples Sea that advocates for equitable integrated and inclusive schools in New York City. I, uh, don't have too much to add from my colleagues. Uh, and usually I have, uh, prepared remarks. But I think in these types of situations, speaking
from the heart, after listening to, um, parents come on board and talk about their struggles, is the best thing that I can do. Uh, first of all, thank you all so, so much for showing up and showing out, and not just tonight, but being part of this advocacy for better busing for New York City students. I have seen parents show up multiple nights all the time. They are at oversight hearings for city council for years, rallies for years, uh, anywhere that they can try to be listened to, try to get some help.
Parents have been showing up and taking out of their time. So thank you for being here and uplifting your voices. And also, I am so sorry that this system has continued to fail you over and over and over again. And I hope, I think I saw OPT on the line at some point, but for at least the folks that we're able to hear from today that we can also uplift the issues that were brought. Again, they are, as we've said, for every one person that brings up an issue, there's probably 40, 50 more people that have had the same exact issue.
Um, but hopefully with OPT on the line, we also at least can identify the folks that spoke out and, and be able to contact them directly. Um, the last thing that I, that I really wanna add, um, I guess two things is, is uplifting. What, what Randy had spoke of is that there are, um, there's plenty of blame to go around and there are plenty of steps that we can take. And I hope as being part of this commission, that we can uplift the recommendations that are not only, um, for, uh, re being able to rebid on, uh, outdated bus contracts, but also to make improvements at OPT
and every other sector that is involved honestly, in the failure of this people transportation system. Um, the last thing that I'll add is that I think something that I heard from folks in favor of a five-year extension of these bus, uh, contracts was this repetition that the Department of Education, city hall and vendors had already come to an agreement on a five-year extension. And that crucially leaves out students and families that you are now hearing from loud and clear that do not want outdated, 46-year-old bus contracts, the ones
that you're supposed to be serving. And I think it has been appalling that students and families and drivers have been used as bargaining chips now, um, when we have just heard from how harmful a halt in service could be because you are not listening to the concerns of students and families over and over and over again. Um, I think with that, I've said all of the everything I need to say and I'll pass it on to the next person. Any, uh, other commission member raised their hands?
But I see two more attendees and I think we can, if, uh, if possible, then we can just take a quick, uh, testimonies from, uh, two more people. Uh, first one is Beverly Ruiz and then Corey Morehead. Okay. Um, yes. And Corey has already spoken, um, but I do see Shai John Fuller. And, um, yeah, I'll start with, uh, Beverly. Your audio is enabled. Um, hi. Good evening. I spoke already. Um, yeah, I spoke.
I don't wanna take it time, so, okay. Okay. Thank you. Um, sorry about that. Okay. So, um, Shai, John Fuller. Hi, good evening. My name is Shay John Fuller. Um, god bless everyone that's in attendance. I am actually a New York City district 75 certified paraprofessional and assistant teacher. And my son is a district 75 student. The service, the bus service that I have been given has been horrible. It has been insane, and there's no possible excuse for it.
You know why? Because the reason why the bus service is in place in the first place is because of the disabled kids. Regular children do not take the bus unless it's for trips. And it sucks that they have, they don't have no type of empathy. They don't, it's no humanity. It's no anything. Uh, one experience I had, I'm sorry, I don't wanna take your time 'cause I know it's the end of the thing, but, uh, me and my son was waiting for the bus. Now the children with disabilities have no sense of patience. They don't know, okay, I have to wait five minutes.
All they know is routine, that the bus should be there. And the fact that they send these kids to school in such trauma because they're waiting is, is a issue in itself. And then you, the kids have to come to the school. The paraprofessionals and the teachers now have to play mom and teacher because it's an emotional thing. It's not just, they could just snap back into reality. And this is all starting with the bus service, the bus service, the first thing that the child encounters to start their school day.
And it's sad. It's sad that that's what they have to go through every single morning just to get to school. And you know what's, well, you know what's so ironic that the teachers in the school actually suggest that the parents put the children on the bus so that they don't have to. So that it's a better transition for the child going into the school. The bus service need training. They need the same autism training that the, the paraprofessionals and the teachers have. And they also need to have some type of consideration. They need to have some type of consideration for the fact that these kids do not know that something is wrong today.
There is no compassion. There's no compassion when you call the line to see what time the bus is coming. Why do I have to, why do I have to call the line 16 times in the morning just to figure out what time my bus is gonna be here when they gave me a time? And then when they wanna be early, I have to be ready at the time that they're early as well. I, I couldn't work last summer because I missed so many days because of my son's busing. And I'm a paraprofessional and I explained that to my school and everything. And I still didn't get selected for the summer because of my attendance. And it sucks. It sucks that parents have to go through this,
but I just want everybody to have a blessed night. And I hope that everyone get the help that they deserve and they need. And I really hope that the bus people really understand that it's not about money. This is not about money. You really have to be a specific special someone to work in this field. And I know that because I do it every single day and I come home to it every single night. Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh, I, all the commission members, fully hear all of your, um, frustrations, difficulties, suffering, pain,
and we'll document all of those things in our report and we'll find solutions in a way that would be beneficial to everybody. Um, at this time, I want to thank, um, Noah and your team as well as the learning times, uh, for coordinating this whole meeting. You guys have done a fantastic job. Before we conclude our meeting, I would like to thank, uh, Mr. Greg Faulkner, the chairman of pep
and if you'd like to offer a few words before we conclude our meeting. Yes, absolutely. Thank, first I wanna, I wanna thank everyone who's come out tonight. I wanna thank members of the commission. I wanna thank you Shamsul, for your leadership. Um, I wanna thank the fellow members of the panel for education, policy f for allowing this space for this to be an independent commission. If you notice, there were no panel members on this commission. The purpose was to allow for the independent judgment and independent, uh, leadership. And so I thank the panel, uh, for being, uh, willing to do that. You know, as I was listening to the testimony, and I, and,
and especially, I wanna thank the parents and the folks who testified and, and I was listening to the testimony, um, and I, I was wondering, well, what is it, what is it that I'm called to do as the chairman of the, of the panel for education policy? What is my responsibility in listening to the comments that are coming from parents and coming from the community? And what I want to commit to is some of these, some of these concerns were addressed to the bus companies. And, and I'm hoping that the bus company will take these things to heart and own those things that they have the power to improve.
And I'm gonna repeat that, that, and I know it's sometimes uncomfortable when we have difficult conversations, but if there are areas that you heard as, as, as representatives of the bus companies that are here, if there are things that you heard and you know that you could do better, please own that. My commitment to the folks on this call is I heard some things where, to be quite frank, the Department of Education needs to do better, and I'm gonna make sure that I follow up to make sure those areas with the department needs to improve its service, that the panel will follow up on those areas.
I am owning them. Some of it was hard to hear, to be honest with you, because you want to think that the area that you are working in is, is, is doing everything purpose correctly or, or everything, um, uh, in, in a, in a, in a, in a way that benefits everybody. That that doesn't always happen. So I want the parents to know that as the chair of the panel for education policy, those concerns that were addressed to the, to the department and to the panel, we are gonna follow up on. And we heard them. It wasn't always easy hearing it, but we heard those things and we're gonna make sure
that we do our best to improve some of those things. I'm gonna ask the bus companies to do the same thing. There were some things you heard tonight that might've made you a little uncomfortable, but I urge you to put that aside and to really own what are the things that were said tonight that we need to do, that we would need to do to really improve our service and own those things and make a commitment to, to, to produce those changes. And, and, and to the other groups, to the union, if there are areas that, that you could do better. Although mostly with, with, with, with right justification, there was a lot of praise for the workers
and I think well deserved praise for the workers. But if there are any things that you heard that you might say, well, we could do better, um, own those things as well. I think that's a commitment. If that commitment comes out from this meeting tonight, I think that this would've been a very worthwhile and productive meeting. So again, my commitment is those areas where we need to have conversation and we'll have those conversations tomorrow morning where the Department of Education needs to take ownership. We are gonna do so, and we're gonna own it in a serious way, and we're gonna do it. We can to make improvement. I urge the other constituent groups to that heard areas
where you know that you're, uh, you could do better. Please own that and, and make a commitment to really do what you can to improve, um, service. So again, I wanna thank everyone for coming out. This is, um, when I, when we put together this commission, um, this is far exceeded what I expected would happen. The number of attendees and the number of, uh, people who spoke. Um, I just, I'm, you know, e excited. But, but it also means now we have to get to work and make sure that we hear these things and make some real changes. So thank you everyone for coming out and, and have a nice evening.
Well, with that, I want to thank one more time everyone, and we are going to conclude this meeting. Rebecca, if you wanna conclude this meeting from your end, thank you. Thank you all.