Copyright Staten Island Advance
All 52 companies that operate New York City’s yellow school bus service signed an emergency 30-day contract with the city Thursday evening, averting a possible work stoppage that could have begun Monday. “In the end, this is about the children and our employees, period,” bus companies’ spokesperson Richard Bamberger told Chalkbeat about the last-minute agreement. “This emergency extension will allow us to bring all parties to the table to work everything out, while, at the same time it will allow parents, students, drivers and aides to know that buses will be running on a normal schedule,” he continued. A contract dispute has been ongoing after a five-year contract between the bus companies, the city, and the Department of Education expired in June. Last week the companies said they were preparing to halt operations and lay off employees on Nov. 1 if they didn’t receive a five-year contract extension. According to Chalkbeat, Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos voiced concerns about approving a contract that would outlast the incoming mayor’s first term. Officials have also labeled the bus system as “rife with problems,” Chalkbeat said, including delayed and no-show service and lack of air conditioning. Earlier this week, 27 of the 52 bus companies agreed to extend the contracts for November and December during the meeting of the Panel for Education Policy, the school board that approves the contracts. But four of the largest bus companies — Logan, Consolidated Transit, Pioneer, and First — had not signed the emergency contracts. At the meeting, panel members unanimously voted to oppose a five-year contract for the bus companies, saying that it lacked vendor accountability and better services. The companies had to choose between continuing on a monthly, emergency contract basis or layoff drivers and stop bus service. They opted for the emergency, 30-day extension on Thursday evening. The contract is scheduled to be finalized at a panel meeting on Nov. 19.
