The return of students to the classroom Thursday comes at a time the system faces some big challenges, including a potential strike by school bus drivers and the continuing influx of new students from migrant families.
The union representing bus drivers has said they won’t strike the first week of school, but Schools Chancellor David Banks said some students may still be in for a bumpy ride.
“We’re working closely with the bus companies to minimize disruptions, but we want to make parents and families aware that they may in fact experience some disruptions and delays to busing on the first day of school,” Banks said.
Busing problems are common on the first day of class, but they could be worse because of the ongoing labor dispute between the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, which represents drivers, and several bus companies that employ them.
Each year, ATU drivers choose their bus routes based on seniority. Banks said the union delayed that process last week.
“This may result in some drivers being placed on unfamiliar bus routes and some companies not being able to provide families who ride curb-to-school bus routes with pickup-dropoff times in advance of the first day of school,” Banks said.
Banks said a potential strike would affect 86,000 students — 27,000 of those students have disabilities, 7,000 live in temporary housing, and 700 are in foster homes.
“Talks are ongoing between the bus companies and the ATU,” Banks said. “This is a very good thing. When both parties are talking, they’re not striking.”
The city also continues to enroll newly arrived migrant children into schools.
“Last week we reported that we enrolled 900 students since July, that number has jumped up to over 2,500 as of today,” Melissa Ramos, chief of staff to the schools chancellor, said.
That’s on top of nearly 20,000 who arrived last year. Enrolling them was slowed in part because some Department of Education employees who work in shelters do not work in the summer.
The DOE said that’s a lesson learned.
“Next year they’ll be 12 months, but this year they were 10 months,” Ramos said.
Students in temporary housing are entitled to attend their zoned public school under federal law, but with the shelters clustered in certain neighborhoods, some schools faced more of a burden than others. Banks said they’re working to spread students around to nearby schools where they can.
Additionally, the city's public school students head back to class today with a change to the curriculum. A sweeping new mandate rolling out this fall will require thousands of teachers to deploy new reading programs.
This week, Catholic school students in Brooklyn and Queens also returned to class.
Bishop Robert Brennan of the Brooklyn Diocese welcomed children and parents back Wednesday to St. Athanasius Catholic Academy in Bensonhurst.
"One of the things we stress is this is a partnership with one another,” Bishop Brennan said. “We want to support them and they support the schools so my message today is one of great welcome."
The Diocese of Brooklyn is home to nearly 70 Catholic elementary schools and 15 Catholic high schools.
Nearly 30,000 students are enrolled.