Skyer Law partners Jesse Cole Cutler and Diana Gersten at the press conference prior to the 2018 City Council hearing on school bus problems.
In January, we announced that the NYC Council had unanimously passed a bill to mandate GPS on all school buses and to provide parents and schools with an app to track where the bus is in real time. The bill was introduced by Council Member Ben Kallos. Our firm helped to craft the bill language and suggested its introduction. We testified at the City Council hearing about the importance of its passage.
After the new law was enacted, the DOE released a request for proposals in March and reportedly received nine bids for the contract. Unfortunately, as reported in The City today, the Department of Education is not on track to meet the legally mandated September launch of this service.
Access to GPS data is a simple, common-sense solution to many of the everyday stresses our clients face when it comes to school busing. While we are all disappointed that parents will not have access to GPS in September, we are hopeful about press reports that the DOE is “finalizing” a contract with an app developer. Still, it is concerning that the city doesn’t have a timeline for implementation.
Since legal deadlines do not seem to matter to the DOE, continued public pressure is needed. Contact the Mayor’s office and your City Council Members to make your views known.