City’s Sped Kids Suffering from School-Bus Chaos, Left Waiting (NY)

September 16, 2010

Start-of-school bus chaos is hitting special education students the hardest, according to parents and city data.

More than 185 special ed buses were at least a half-hour late for school Wednesday alone, data show, and parents say some students aren’t getting picked up at all.

Even though a bus picks up mentally disabled Tyler Cintron, 8, for his school in the South Bronx, his twin brother, Taylor, has missed two out of four school days because he’s not on the driver’s list.

"It’s beyond upsetting," said mom Patricia Velasco, 33. "There’s a bus that comes to my house … that has space."

&# x0A; A distraught Velasco has been told it will take at least 10 days to fix the problem.

Brandon Ramzie, 9, waited two hours for his bus to pick him up in Glendale, Queens, for his first day of school, but it never came.

When his mom, Nicole, complained, the bus arrived for two days, but dropped Brandon, who has ADHD, at Public School 88 in Ridgewood more than an hour late. The bus didn’t show up again yesterday.

"I was so angry," said his mom.

The problem may not be fixed for three weeks, she was told.

"Nobody seems to care that he’s not getting there," she said. "It just keeps getting pushed from one office to another."

Bus union officials blamed the problems on the elimination of 333 special education routes last week. Routes are typically cut at the beginning of the school year; some are added back in the first few weeks.

"This year, the work seems to be coming back slower than years past," said Michael Cordiello, president of Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

Education Department officials say they will restore the routes when the need arises.

"There is no cut in special education busing," said spokeswoman Marge Feinberg. "All special education students eligible for busing are routed."