City Council takes on New York City school bus shortcomings

NEW YORK - Issues around school buses are an issue for parents across New York City, especially because of staffing shortages among drivers. 

CBS2's Kristie Keleshian heard from some parents at a City Council hearing Monday who are demanding change. 

The Department of Education has lots of homework to do on its handling of school buses citywide. April Yzola had to call an Uber for her 17-year-old son Josiah Blakely to get to the Lexington School for the Deaf. 

"They're never on time. Then we also have trouble with the rudeness of drivers. There are times when my son missed school several times in the school year," Yzola said. 

The chief schools operations officer and the head of student transportation testified at a hearing about the ongoing issues with city school bus system. The city spends about $1.7 billion a year on the system that's faced communication and routing issues, as well as staffing shortages. 

"We're looking to certainly have competitive salary, advancements at the company level. It is something we've been looking at," said Chief Schools Operation Officer Kevin Moran. 

"We hear these stories all the time and then we hear from you at hearings like these about some of the changes that you're making, but it's obviously ineffective if you have a bus company that has poor performance," said Councilmember Farah Louis. 

Many of the students who use school buses have special needs and are in the foster care and shelter systems. This also includes the nearly 6,000 new students in the city school system who are asylum seekers. 

"It was a lot of time without something to eat, without drinking water," said Araceli Peraza through a translator.

Petraza was talking about her 8-year-old son Eric, who also goes to the Lexington School for the Deaf and was on a bus for six hours when a driver got lost. He ended up showing up to school at 1 p.m. 

"They know these kids need to be in school to get their education," one person said. 

The school officials' testimony includes improving communication and with parents, mitigating staff shortages and providing more resources to foster and shelter students. 

The City Council hopes next time there's a meeting on school buses, it'd be to praise the school bus system.