Parents throughout New York City were confused of the changes from the Department of Education’s effort to cut the cost of school bus transportation.

Earlier this school year, officials said that at the advice of a private consulting firm they hoped to save $20 million by consolidating routes and making sure that buses were supplied only for children who used them. The city has budgeted $1.06 billion for student transportation this fiscal year.  

 

Dr. Bonanno, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College, said that according to the new routes, his children are also to be dropped off at different places and as much as an hour later than they had been dropped off before.  “You could walk to the school and back in the time they’re telling us it’s going to take to drive the kids back in a bus,” he said. “It’s at a level of frustration and insult that’s really hard to bear.”

 

This article appeared in the January 30, 2007 edition of the New York Times.