No Free Rides for P.S. 15

PS 15, The Patrick F Daly School of the Arts Red Hook’s elementary school on Sullivan Street, needs buses from the MTA so its students can go on field trips.

The school at 71 Sullivan Street is about a 20-minute walk from the closest train station.

Field trips that would be helpful for the kids are very difficult for the school to take.

Cateia Rembert, whose son is in the 4^th grade and in his first year at the school, started her effort on this project in November joining other parents working on increasing bus access last year.

Rembert found out from an MTA customer service representative that they have charter buses that are potentially available for use so she and the school hope to have access to one of those to take kids to the train station. Another option would be free bus passes.

“We would be happy if we could get on our local buses, the B61 and B57, for free,” Rembert said. “I mean there would be a lot of us. One class is 30 something kids with a few chaperones. I don’t know how that would work, that is why we thought a charter of some sort.”

Traveling with a whole grade level at a time could take up the whole city bus, which makes a bus dedicated for PS 15 necessary.

“We are open to all options at this point, so we could get the kids out and experiencing field trips,” Rembert said.

The MTA has said no so far, regarding the bus access, but Rembert is not sure if she was contacting the right person. This was the representative’s response: “We regret to inform you that there are no free-transportation privileges for groups of students on MTA New York City Transit buses or MTA Bus Company buses.”

Rembert has been in contact with Riders Alliance hoping they could assist their efforts. Their focus is to advocate for better bus service in different boroughs especially concerning low income families or organizations that need better service.

Yellow school buses, which are another possible option for getting to the Smith 9^th Street station, are not realistic because those buses can’t get to the school until 9:30 am, which is too late, due to the 2:30 pm dismissal time.

This does not give them enough time to enjoy a field trip location since they would have to leave by noon and might not arrive until 10:30 or 11:00. They have used the yellow buses in the past but that is a last resort.

Another drawback of the yellow buses is the safety hazards that they present.

“The seat belts are broken most of the time and they are in horrible condition,” Rembert said. “It is not safe in many ways so many parents do not want to go with that option. We definitely need something better. We were hoping the MTA would work with us considering the uniqueness of where we are and our school as a whole, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.”

The school would like to take its students the Brooklyn Children’s museum among other museums, the botanic gardens, the zoo as well as other landmarks that could be beneficial for the students.

Since PS 15 not a private school, it does not have the funds to pay for a private charter bus. They are dependent on the MTA and the yellow bus, which isn’t safe.

“We should have an option that is safe and reliable, and it should not matter that the majority of students are from a low-income family,” Rembert said about the need for bus service. “I feel that because of that fact, we are being overlooked at it is bothersome. There is more that can be done with the MTA considering where we are located and the uniqueness of the school and the work we are doing.”

Lambert, who has lived in Red Hook for over 10 years, initially had her son go to PS 32 in Carroll Gardens, and then had her son home schooled for a few years after he was unfortunately bullied.

Before coming to PS 15, David enjoyed dance class at Cora Dance at 358 Van Brunt St and he also enjoyed often playing at the PS 15 playground and made many friends through doing that. As a result of these positive experiences, they decided that they should give PS 15 a chance back in September.

“We love it here,” Lambert added about PS 15. “We have so many obstacles from budgeting to transportation. There is just so much going on. It is such an amazing school that is just overlooked in so many areas.”