PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Adriana Alicea, Chair of the Special Education Committee of the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council, on School Bus Transportation and OmniCard Issues
4:17:49
·
3 min
Adriana Alicea testified about ongoing issues with school bus transportation and OmniCard distribution in NYC schools. She highlighted problems with the Via app for bus tracking, excessive travel times for students with disabilities, and various concerns about OmniCard management and distribution.
- Criticized the Via app's GPS tracking functionality, calling it a safety issue
- Reported that some students in District 24 spend 3-4 hours daily on buses, violating their IEPs
- Raised concerns about OmniCard distribution, including non-sequential numbering and increased character count
- Called for additional resources for school secretaries managing OmniCards and highlighted shortages in some schools
Adriana Alicea
4:17:49
Good afternoon.
4:17:50
Shares Joseph and Juan.
4:17:52
My name is Adriana Lasiah.
4:17:54
I am the Chair of the Special Education Committee.
4:17:57
Of the chancellor's parent advisory council, and I am a member of the panel for educational policy representing Queen's CDC presidents.
4:18:05
I'm here today testifying in my own capacity to address some ongoing and critical issues.
4:18:10
With the office of people transportation specifically regarding buffing the Via app and persistent problems with the distribution of OmniCards.
4:18:17
I would also like to note that at the most recent PEP meeting, Mayor Ola Fuentes introduced updated bylaws that would eliminate the contracts committee and augment general public comment.
4:18:27
I encourage you, Chair Joseph, and anyone else that's interested to view that reporting on the New York City Public Schools website.
4:18:35
So as for the via app, which OPT has directed families to use, is simply not functioning as intended.
4:18:42
There are chronic issues with GPS tracking, preventing families from reliably accessing the app to know the whereabouts of their children.
4:18:50
This is not just an inconvenience.
4:18:52
It is a safety issue.
4:18:53
And it further erodes the trust in the system.
4:18:55
Plainly, chairs, OPT, and New York City Public School's lack of forethought and planning continues to put our children in danger.
4:19:03
Having said that, as you can imagine, the busing situation in Queen's Day's troubling.
4:19:06
While Mister Riskbook was testifying earlier today, I reached out to the CEC 24 president, and she shared, and I quote, there are students in District 24.
4:19:15
This is Community School District 24, who spend 3 to 4 hours on the bus daily, chairs, This is a clear violation of their IEPs as has been eliminated multiple times today.
4:19:28
These are children who are supposed to receive a free appropriate public education, but instead, they're losing instructional time and services due to these excessive travel times.
4:19:37
One reason for this is the lack of power professionals traveling with students, as illuminated again earlier today, even when required by their IEPs.
4:19:45
However, parents are often discouraged from requesting this support because if the power is unavailable, The child is denied transportation, which leads to further absenteeism as we heard maybe two people before me who testified.
4:19:57
I would also like to address the ongoing OmniCard issues.
4:20:01
First, why were the cards distributed in non sequential order?
4:20:04
This has made tracking them unnecessarily difficult.
4:20:07
2nd, why did the number of identifying characters increase from 9 to 16 breaking alignment with MTA and NYCPS systems?
4:20:16
This is a data issue.
4:20:18
Third, why weren't additional resources provided to school secretaries who now face an undue burden in managing these cards?
4:20:25
This is a data issue.
4:20:27
And finally, why were schools like junior high school 190, aka Russell Sage Middle School in district 28, community school district 28, forced to request an additional 250 OmniCard just to meet basic student needs.
4:20:41
For further details on busing issues, I encourage you to reach out to the president of Community Education Council 24, that's in Europe, Veronica, Sierra Leone.
4:20:50
And for any questions about OmniCards in district 28, please reach out to this evening.
UNKNOWN
4:20:55
Hi, Hi, Hi,
Adriana Alicea
4:20:58
Thank you.
4:20:58
Thank you.
