ALBANNY — As New York children prepare to return to school, state auditors are asking the state’s Department of Transportation to ensure that bus programs used by school districts have qualified and properly trained drivers. I’m looking for

About 2.3 million New York children take the bus to and from school every day.

About a third of these children ride on school buses owned by their local school district, according to state comptroller Tom Dinapoli’s audit. The remaining one-third use public transport, while the remaining one-third go to school by contracted bus.

Statewide, approximately $3.4 billion is spent on student transportation services. State aid covers her $2 billion in that total.

State law requires each school district to certify that its school bus drivers have completed an established training program and to prepare an annual report on the effectiveness of the program. A total of 1,400 instructors train drivers, attendants and monitors, according to auditors.

Each school district contracts with the Student Traffic Safety Association to provide training.

An initial audit of the same program, released by DiNapoli two years ago, found that the institute’s database of school bus accidents was incomplete and did not contain information on all reportable accidents statewide. .

A new audit accused Education Department officials of making “limited progress” on recommendations made in October 2020. Two key recommendations have not been implemented and one has only been partially implemented, leaving the agency fully compliant with the audit. His fourth recommendation for the team for improvement.

Following the audit, D-Orange County Senator Mike Martucci said the state should provide more resources to the Department of Education so it can properly staff those involved in school bus safety oversight. said.

“For years, Congress has not responded to[the Department of Education’s]budget requests for staffing,” Martucci told CNHI. “But in this case, for the safety of our students, something needs to change. Filling vacancies in this unit immediately is a priority for the department, building its ranks to ensure student safety. It should be a legislative priority to do so.”

The Department of Education said it would use “multiple approaches” to provide information to transportation and school business officials and transportation contractors in response to the audit.

“This includes remote and in-person presentations at multiple conferences and seminars each year, maintaining an up-to-date website, and frequent communication with several governing groups on public transport (both public and private sector). , and participation in state-level advisory groups,” agency vice-chairman Sharon Cates-Williams told the DiNapoli office in a letter.

Cates-Williams also assured the audit team that her agency was developing new systems that could collect transportation information more effectively while tracking compliance and identifying risks. It is hoped that this will facilitate a quick field survey.

Regarding monitoring adherence to drug and alcohol policies, the Department of Education “is working with its peers to create and advocate enhanced standards and consistency wherever possible,” said Cates Williams. said.