BILL NUMBER:S2328A

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the education law, in relation to requiring school bus
transportation for students in cities having a population of one
million or more

PURPOSE:
This bill will have the Department of Education of the City of New
York provide transportation to all children residing in the City to
and from the school they legally attend, who are in need of
transportation. Such transportation shall be provided for all
children attending grades three through eight who live more than one
mile from the school they legally attend and for children attending
grades kindergarten through two, and siblings of children attending
grades kindergarten through two who attend grades three and five at
the same school, who live more than one half mile from the school
they legally attend.

JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would require the City of New York to provide yellow school
bus transportation to be provided for all children attending grades
three through eight who live more than one mile from the school they
legally attend and for children attending grades kindergarten through
two, and siblings of children attending grades kindergarten through
              

two who attend grades three and five at the same school, who live
more than one half mile from the school they legally attend.

For example, Staten Island has a severe safety and transportation
issue, specifically in the vicinity of our elementary and
intermediate schools. This is evident by the by the recent
enforcement initiative implemented by the New York City police
Department. Patrol Borough Staten Island (PBSI) of the NYPD, has been
enforcing the hazardous parking and driving conditions, which
endanger our children. The initiative has specifically targeted,
double and triple parking, no standing, no parking, blocking
crosswalks, and passing stopped school buses.

Currently the Department of Education, Office of Pupil Transportation
(OPT) assigns Yellow School Bus Service to eligible students based on
their home's distance from the school. The current criteria for
eligibility are as follows:

Grades K-2 more than .5 miles from their school.
Grades 3-5 more than 1 mile from their school.
Grades 7-8 not eligible.

OPT also approves variances to otherwise non eligible students. The
variances are currently granted as two main headings, Access
Variances and Hazardous Variances. The Access Variance is granted if
there is not adequate public transportation from the student's home
to their school.
The Hazardous Variances are granted if the student has to walk where
there are predominantly no sidewalks and very dangerous roadways,
which are very difficult to cross.


The focus for Staten Island students is mainly on the Access
Variances. Staten Island Grades K-8 students do not have the same
access to, school via public transportation, as the other four
boroughs of NYS. Staten Island is the largest geographical school
district in NYS. District 31 has 57,469 students enrolled in grades
K-8, second only to District 2 in Manhattan, which is heavily
populated multiple trains and bus options, unlike District 31.

This legislation would allow students in grade 7 and 8 yellow bus
service equal to that of current grade 6 eligibility, which require a
residence distance of more. This would be a District 31 wide Access
Variance for all 7th and 8th grade students due to lack of adequate
public transportation.

Grade K-2 are eligible for yellow bus service when they live more
than .5 miles away from school, yet, siblings in grades 3-5 are not
eligible for the yellow bus service. Currently parents with children
in different grades do not utilize the bus service because the older
child is not eligible. The Sibling Variance will help to improve
safety by minimizing personal automobiles used as transportation to
school.

According to a 2006 study conducted by the NYC Department of City
Planning, Staten Island's population will grow to 552,000 by 2030
from today's 483,000. This reflects a 24.4% growth from 2000. Staten
Island is projected to see a growth of 8% of grades K-8 students,
during this same time period. It is anticipated that Staten Island
will represent 6.5% of NYC's population, but will have 16% of NYC's
registered vehicles. This will result in even more hazardous
conditions near Staten Island schools. Not only will expanded yellow
school bus service improve student access to their respective school,
it will help reduce traffic congestion by removing excess private
vehicles from our roads. A National School Transportation Association
study revealed that approximately 800 student fatalities occur yearly
in private vehicles in route to school, compared to 20 student
fatalities yearly that occur when yellow buses are used to travel to
school.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2010: S.7059 - Referred to Education/A.10124 - Referred to Education.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.