Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-HammelBus departs Morris Intermediate School in Brighton Heights. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The nine-months-long battle to restore yellow bus service for thousands of borough students has heated up, with the case heading toward another showdown in court. The lawyer representing local elected leaders and parents denounced yesterday the city Department of Education's decision to eliminate...
Bus departs Morris Intermediate School in Brighton Heights.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The nine-months-long battle to restore yellow bus service for thousands of borough students has heated up, with the case heading toward another showdown in court.
The lawyer representing local elected leaders and parents denounced yesterday the city Department of Education's decision to eliminate school bus service for intermediate school upperclassmen as "arbitrary and capricious." Nearly 3,000 seventh- and eighth-graders across the borough are affected.
"The actions taken by the [DOE] was clearly without any sound basis in reason, since it was taken, not without regard to the facts, but without any knowledge of the facts," wrote Sunnyside attorney Ronald Castorina Jr. in a brief submitted yesterday to a Brooklyn appellate court.
The city is appealing a ruling by Staten Island state Supreme Court Justice John A. Fusco in December that ordered school-bus service restored to Staten Island seventh- and eighth-graders.
Fusco determined that DOE's cutback had no foundation in law or fact and was made "without concern for the welfare and safety of the affected students."
The appeal has kept the buses from rolling again. Castorina's legal brief was filed in response to the city's appeal.
Last summer, in a cost-cutting move, DOE decided to eliminate school bus service to Staten Island seventh- and eighth-graders. That cut achieved an annual savings of more than $2.1 million, the city Law Department contends in a brief recently filed with the appellate court.
Staten Island is the only borough with a blanket transportation variance for seventh- and eighth-graders. Nearly all seventh- and eighth-graders in other boroughs must take public transportation to school, according to the city.
"There's no legal basis to take it away," maintained Castorina. "All they have are the hearsay allegations of these old-timers in the Department of Education" regarding why the variance was issued decades ago to permit the bus service.
According to Castorina's brief, one high-ranking DOE official, Kathleen Grimm, testified she had "no idea" as to the variance's genesis, although she and others suggested it might have been politically motivated -- an allegation parents and lawmakers here dispute.
"They looked at this without looking at the geographic problems that come up on Staten Island," Castorina said, noting the borough's lack of sidewalks and susceptibility to flooding in certain areas.
However, in its appellate court filing, the city Law Department contends the service elimination was a "rational cost-cutting measure that was neither arbitrary nor capricious."
DOE analysis showed that Staten Island students, on average, need walk only four-tenths of a mile and travel for about 27 minutes combined, via walking and public transportation, to reach school from home.
Moreover, attendance levels actually have improved during the current school year, the city maintains.
City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) isn't convinced.
"The battle continues," said Ignizio, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. "Clearly, the city has lost. Their decision to appeal is actually costing them more money than returning the service to kids who need it. We will fight this every step of the way, as we have since June."
Castorina has requested expedited arguments before the Appellate Division, Second Department, and hopes they'll take place in a few weeks. A date has not been set. The court would rule sometime afterward.
"My position is that we should be successful on the law and the merits of the case," said Castorina.
Should he fail, Castorina intends to ask the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, to hear the case.
