4 NOVEMBER 28, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Holden leads charge to rebuke DOE over
delays implementing GPS bus tracking
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
A group of 24 City Council members
demanded an explanation
from the Department of Education
(DOE) about its failure to follow a
legal mandate to equip every yellow
school bus with a GPS device by the
first day of school.
Councilmen Robert Holden and
Ben Kallos wrote a letter to Schools
Chancellor Richard Carranza following
up on a law that the Council
passed in January that would allow
parents to use an app for tracking
their children.
“We the undersigned demand that
the DOE explain its error and abide
by the law immediately for the sake
of our students and parents,” read
the letter.
In August, THE CITY reported
that the DOE hadn’t awarded a
contract to distribute the devices
on buses. The letter references an
email exchange between Holden’s
staff and the DOE on Oct. 28, where
the DOE spokesperson said that
the technology “will start getting
on some of our buses this winter
with full fleet operations by start
of school next year.”
The letter points out that the
tracking device law was adopted
in February and gave the administration
seven months before the
beginning of the school year to plan
accordingly.
Technically the DOE’s lag on the
execution of the plan is against the
law, it concludes.
The DOE has struggled with
implementing a system to track
school buses before.
A report by the Special Commissioner
of Investigations in September
found that the DOE spent nearly
$9 million on a bus-tracking devices
sold by Teletrac Navman, which the
majority of bus drivers failed to log
into.
According to THE CITY, Schools
Chancellor Richard Carranza has
been firm since shortly after the bill
was passed that he may need more
time. The Chancellor said in a DOE
budget hearing at the City Council
in March that he was prioritizing
getting the GPS system “right”
rather than meeting the deadline.
“As soon as the bill was enacted
we began the procurement process,
and are working to provide parents
with access to busing information in
an efficient and effective way by the
start of next school year,” department
spokeswoman Miranda Barbot
told the Daily News.
Photo via Getty Images
RIDGEWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS
& CIVIC ASSOCIATION
Invites you to join our Annual Christmas Choral Celebration and Organ Concert at the
Ridgewood Presbyterian Church, Rev. Victoria Moss, Pastor
59-14 70th Avenue (between Forest Av & 60 St) Ridgewood New York 11385
Thursday, December 5th, 2019, 7 pm sharp
(Enter through the adjacent parking lot entrance.)
Doors will open at 6:30 pm. Concert will begin promptly at 7:00 pm
(There will be no seating during the concert)
For your listening pleasure:
The Gottscheer Mannerchor, the Deutsch Gesang Verein & The St Matthias Adult and Children’s Choirs
will perform, and a medley of Christmas Organ Music will be presented by Steven Frank, Organist &
Choir Director at St. Matthias RC Church. Following the concert, a light repast will be served in the
senior center dining room - provided by Frank’s Deli from Maspeth, courtesy of Kerzner Realty.
We would like to wish all our members and our Ridgewood neighbors a
Joyous Christmas and a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!
Call Paul Kerzner, RPOCA Counsel
at 718-381-3366 for membership information.
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