Michelle
09-16-2006, 10:37 PM
From wcbstv.com (http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_258183653.html):
QUEENS The mother of a 15 year-old special education student who lives in Middle Village is distressed that her daughter's school bus is so chronically late, that the child has missed most of her morning classes.
The student, Kaitlin O'Malley, who is learning disabled according to her mother, is a freshman at the Information and Technology High School in Long Island City. Her mother, Diane O'Malley, said the tardiness of the morning bus has made her daughter at least an hour-and-a-half late each day since classes began two weeks ago.
At Kaitlin's school, classes begin at 8 AM, but Friday morning, Kaitlin's bus didn't arrive at her home until 10:05 AM. Her mother is steamed. "This is horrible, because this is special ed, and they shouldn't be treated like this," said O’ Malley.
As the bus arrived Friday morning, with a new driver and a new matron, Kaitlin's mother expressed her displeasure to them, saying, "I am not blaming you two but this has been every day since day one. She went on to say, her daughter had not been to school on time once."
O’Malley received a call from her daughter Kaitlin 45 minutes after the bus picked her up, for what should have been no more than a 30-minute ride, who was still on the bus, and said the driver was lost. Kaitlin and 13 others on the bus didn't arrive at school until 11 a.m.
The bus company operating the route is Little Richie Bus Service in Ozone Park. Like other private bus services, it has been hired by the Department of Education. A supervisor for the bus company, Joe Labuz, said the bus service gets its routes from the Department of Education's Office of Pupil Transportation, which he said, was still tweaking routes last night. Labuz said Kaitlin O'Mally had been assigned to the Q-981 route, but that was changed last night. He said, "We spoke to them about it yesterday and took (Kaitlin) off this run and put her on a run where hopefully she can get to school on time." But that last minute tweaking did not work.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education, who was aware of the O'Malley case, because of complaints from the mother, was sympathetic, saying the office that designs bus routes will have to readdress the problem. She promised that within the next week, Kaitlin will be arriving to school on time.
The spokesperson further said, the lateness was inexcusable, and that it will be investigated. She said, the chronic tardiness of the bus is the bus company's fault, and the company could be fined for picking up students so late.
QUEENS The mother of a 15 year-old special education student who lives in Middle Village is distressed that her daughter's school bus is so chronically late, that the child has missed most of her morning classes.
The student, Kaitlin O'Malley, who is learning disabled according to her mother, is a freshman at the Information and Technology High School in Long Island City. Her mother, Diane O'Malley, said the tardiness of the morning bus has made her daughter at least an hour-and-a-half late each day since classes began two weeks ago.
At Kaitlin's school, classes begin at 8 AM, but Friday morning, Kaitlin's bus didn't arrive at her home until 10:05 AM. Her mother is steamed. "This is horrible, because this is special ed, and they shouldn't be treated like this," said O’ Malley.
As the bus arrived Friday morning, with a new driver and a new matron, Kaitlin's mother expressed her displeasure to them, saying, "I am not blaming you two but this has been every day since day one. She went on to say, her daughter had not been to school on time once."
O’Malley received a call from her daughter Kaitlin 45 minutes after the bus picked her up, for what should have been no more than a 30-minute ride, who was still on the bus, and said the driver was lost. Kaitlin and 13 others on the bus didn't arrive at school until 11 a.m.
The bus company operating the route is Little Richie Bus Service in Ozone Park. Like other private bus services, it has been hired by the Department of Education. A supervisor for the bus company, Joe Labuz, said the bus service gets its routes from the Department of Education's Office of Pupil Transportation, which he said, was still tweaking routes last night. Labuz said Kaitlin O'Mally had been assigned to the Q-981 route, but that was changed last night. He said, "We spoke to them about it yesterday and took (Kaitlin) off this run and put her on a run where hopefully she can get to school on time." But that last minute tweaking did not work.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education, who was aware of the O'Malley case, because of complaints from the mother, was sympathetic, saying the office that designs bus routes will have to readdress the problem. She promised that within the next week, Kaitlin will be arriving to school on time.
The spokesperson further said, the lateness was inexcusable, and that it will be investigated. She said, the chronic tardiness of the bus is the bus company's fault, and the company could be fined for picking up students so late.