Not enough car seats on school bus for special-needs children - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Not enough car seats on school bus for special-needs children

A mother contacted Fox 5 after discovering that the bus her 3-year-old special-needs daughter was on did not have car seats, which are required by law.

Bridgette De Leon's daughter, Gabrielle, has learning disabilities. She attends William O'Connor School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

De Leon got on the bus to check it out. She saw about 10 special-needs children but only one car seat.

Any child under the age of 4 is required to be in a car seat. The bus companies must provide them. Thomas Bus, based in Coney Island, is a new bus company the city hired this year for the special-needs school.

The school principal said Thomas Bus is the worst bus company they've ever had and that there is a list of problems she has been calling the Department of Education about since school began last Wednesday. The principal said there is no excuse for not having car seats for the children. She got so frustrated that she sent a letter home to parents encouraging them to call the city's 311 system to complain and "make their voices heard."

We went to the bus company. A man there said he handles the billing. He told us the car seats should have been on the bus.

We also called the Department of Education about the complaints and the apparent lack of action.   The DOE said it will have personnel at the school and the bus company Wednesday morning to make sure every bus has a car seat for every student.