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Special Needs Kids "Are Being Cooked Alive" On Sweltering School Buses, Say Parents
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 20, 2011
Modified Jun 20, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 20, 2011
Modified Jun 20, 2011
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The summer's hot and sultry weather conditions can be dangerous for everyone which is why parents are upset at bus companies that take special needs kids to and from school. According to the Daily News, parents have repeatedly complained to the Department of Education about their children's sweaty, steamy commutes (many of which can take over 2 1/2 hours). One parent whose autistic son is "swimming in sweat" after his bus ride said, "Our kids are being cooked alive in these buses. I'm worried about kids getting heatstroke. I'm worried about kids suffering organ failure."
The News reports, "Special-needs kids, whose busing is contracted out to private companies, often have long commutes because drivers pick children up from multiple schools and then drop them off at their homes, which can make for long, unwieldy trips." And many children are in summer programs. The Department of Education says children's parents can request air conditioning IF they have doctors' notes and the city authorizes it. But, in the face of bureaucracy, a spokeswoman adds, "There's no reason why the buses shouldn't be using air conditioning if there's a child on it."
Another parent, Jennifer Choi, recounted how her 4-year-old son takes a 90-minute bus from a Manhattan school back to Queens—complete with a 35-minute stop ("without A/C, food or water") to wait for another student at a different school. Choi complained to the Daily News after reaching a dead end with the DOE for 8 months, and the News' inquiry got the DOE to shorten her son's route. She said, "I'm happy for [my child], but I'm concerned for other people. If the [city] could fix this within one day of the Daily News calling, they could have fixed this at any point at any time and they just chose not to."
And school bus drivers aren't just leaving kids on hot buses—last year, a special ed student was left on a freezing bus while the driver and matron went to get breakfast.
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overheated
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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