Continuing a year-long theme of transportation issues, the Buffalo Board of Education is trying to find creative solutions to solve the problems plaguing how children across the city are getting to and from school.
To start, the district will begin distributing Metro Bus passes to high school students who live less than 1.5 miles from school. That change was unanimously approved by the School Board on Wednesday.
The number of positive cases among children, teachers and staff in public schools in Erie and Niagara counties doubled from Dec. 1 to Jan. 1, with a total 2,500 new cases reported on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the board voted 6-3 to send to its Finance and Operations Committee a resolution that would allow the district to purchase prepaid gas cards that would be used to reimburse parents who drive their children to school as a result of the school bus driver shortage, an idea that sparked heated debate among board members.
Both resolutions were introduced by Ferry District Board Member Sharon Belton-Cottman who, along with Central District Board Member Paulette Woods, took umbrage at the idea of not immediately approving the measure to provide relief for some parents and their children who she said have been forced to wait hours in the cold for school buses that sometimes don't arrive.
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"We don't know if it'll work but, damn it, you can't blame us for trying," Belton-Cottman said, demanding that her colleagues vote either up or down on the measure instead of delaying action.
"From the day school started, it has been atrocious," Latrice Martin, the parent of three children in Buffalo, said of the bus driver shortage.
Other members raised numerous questions about the practicality of the measure, and whether it would actually help alleviate the problems brought on by a school bus driver shortage. Members also questioned the basic fairness of handing out gas cards. The measure would do nothing for parents who don't own a vehicle and rely on public transportation or ride-sharing apps to get their children to school.
"The goal is making sure that this works," said Board Member at large Ann Rivera, who added that sending the item to committee did not indicate a lack of support for the resolution.
Board Member at large Terrance Heard, who voted with Belton-Cottman and Woods against sending the item to committee, insisted that the board could have voted to approve it at Wednesday night's meeting and could make any necessary modifications to it later.
School districts and private contractors in New York State are reporting a 15% to 20% shortage in the driver force.
Belton-Cottman said that, because of federal Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief funds, the district has access to over $15 million for its transportation needs that could provide immediate relief to parents and thereby reduce the number students who require school bus transportation to get to and from school. Both resolutions introduced by her are in response to the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that began in late winter of 2020. These include chronic absenteeism among 10% to 20% of the district's students, she said.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Kriner Cash criticized Belton-Cottman for not specifically seeking out his opinions on her resolution first before presenting them to the board, noting that, as superintendent, he would be required to execute the resolution. Cash said he wanted to look into some of the issues raised about the gas card idea, not least of which is the cost, which was not contained in the resolution.
