WELLNESS
Lawmakers and parents urge city DOE to immediately
provide transportation for students with disabilities
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.24 COM | SEPT. 17 - SEPT. 23, 2021
running until Sept. 13 and
were instead offered MetroCards
or taxi services
as a consolation.
Parents and officials
complained that other
school districts in the
state were reportedly able
to provide adequate bus
transportation for their
students who attend these
schools, which typically
begin on Sept. 1.
“The mayor promised
all year that schools
would reopen for all students,
but the sad truth
is that they once again
forgot about disabled kids
for whom his Department
of Education is required
to provide appropriate
school buses,” said Liu,
who is the chairperson
of Senate Committee on
NYC Education. “It’s just
unconscionable how special
needs students and
their families are always
an afterthought for City
Hall and the DOE. The
school bus requirements
for these children have
long been established and
provided, and we reject
the 11th-hour MetroCard
and taxi suggestions.”
The Daily News reported
that approximately
400 students with disabilities
were slated to utilize
the special transportation
to 4201 schools this year.
The plans for the students’
start date were approved
back in June but on Aug.
19, the DOE’s Office of
Pupil Transportation
emailed school leaders
to inform them that bus
transport would not be
available until Sept. 13.
Dr. Bernadette Kappen,
chair of the 4201
Schools Association and
executive director of the
Bronx-based New York Institute
for Special Education,
said that at least four
schools she represents,
including the Henry Viscardi
School in Nassau
County, Lavelle School for
the Blind, New York Institute
for Special Education
in the Bronx and St. Francis
de Sales School for the
Deaf in Brooklyn, are “being
throw into a state of
uncertainty.”
She urged the DOE to
reverse their “discriminatory
decision” so that
children could safely get
to school.
“As the first bell of the
school year starts to ring
– hundreds of blind, deaf
and physically disabled
students are in jeopardy
of being left at the curb
on the first day of school.
New York City DOE has
known our calendars and
start dates, however, for
reasons and a rationale
only known to them, their
bus transportation may
not begin until at least
Sept. 13. The children we
serve, and their families
are the ones who will feel
the consequences resulting
from DOE’s lack of
communication and organization,”
Kappen said.
“Any delay in returning
to school is detrimental to
our children’s education
and frankly compounds
the trauma they have
suffered for the last 18
months.”
According to the DOE,
the agency contacted all
offices, schools and programs
that were affected
and notified families of
available transportation
options. In addition
to the car services and
reimbursements, DOT
provided to the affected
students and families,
the agency also said they
are working with the bus
companies to provide
busing services for impacted
students. Those
with accessibility needs
can request a vehicle to
accommodate them.
“We’re providing
private car service for
eligible non-public school
families to ensure they
have safe, reliable and
free transportation to
and from school for
the few days that these
schools are open before
the NYC DOE school
year begins. We look
forward to standing up
full-capacity bus service
on Sept. 13 and getting
all our students back
on buses and into their
classrooms,” said a DOE
spokesperson.
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Senator John Liu
joined other lawmakers to
demand that the city immediately
provide transportation
for students
with disabilities who began
school at the start of
the month.
According to the
elected officials, many severely
disabled students
in New York City attend
4201 schools, which are
private institutions that
cater to individuals with
deafness, visual impairment
and emotional disturbance.
The city’s Department
of Education is
required to provide school
bus transportation with
appropriately trained
staff to bring students to
and from the schools classified
as 4201 institutions,
as it had been for years.
But NYC-based families
were informed at the
end of August that the
school buses would not be
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