Half fare, no fair: Transit policy upsets parents

By Vanessa Truell
Staff Writer

For many years, the New York City Board of Education’s Office of Pupil Transportation has had a policy, based on distance between home and school, that restricts which students get full-fare metrocards and which get half-fare metrocards. However, this policy does not leave much flexibility. While there are some variances to the policy, the administration does not make exceptions, for example, if a parent cannot afford the half-fare metrocard.

The policy is different for each grade level. In kindergarten through 2nd grade, most children are close to home, so they are chaperoned by either parents or family members. But if they are within ½ mile of the school, they are allowed a half fare card, and if they are more than ½ mile from school, they receive a full fare card.

In grades 3 through 6, students receive half fare cards when they live between ½ mile and 1 mile from school, and receive full fare cards if they live more than 1 mile from school. In grades 7 through 12, children receive half farecards when they are between ½ and 1 ½ miles from school, and they only receive full farecards if they live beyond the 1 ½ mile radius.

Under certain conditions, parents can apply for what is called a variance. According to the New York City Board of Education’s Office of Pupil Transportation, those are:

• Request for a medical review. This variance is given to special needs children, such as chronic asthmatics and disabled children, and also to children with a medical emergency situation that requires a doctor’s intervention.

• A request for transportation hazard variance. This variance is given when construction rearranges the route that the child would normally travel.

• Request for access/emergency variance. An emergency variance is if the child or any family member has been a victim of a crime. That claim has to be supported by a report from the local police precinct. An access variance is if the child lives in an area with very few transportation options.

(The forms are available from the Office of Pupil Transportation by calling (718) 784-3313, or online at http://www.opt-osfns.org/ pt_variances.cfm.)

However, not one of these variances addresses low-income parents who can’t afford a metrocard, according to representatives of the Office of Pupil of Transportation.

“This is a State mandated law and can only be changed by the schools chancellor,” explained Bill Heslin, manager of common carrier services at the Office of Pupil transportation.

Ms. Williams, secretary to Michael Carter, director of student support services at the District 9 office, said that she has handled numerous requests from parents regarding this issue. She said she could not do anything to accommodate parents who could not afford the half fare transportation because the mandated state law says they cannot.

Valerie Claxton, a Highbridge resident, disapproves of the student farecard policy. She has more than one child in her household who utilizes the transit system to go to and from school, and on a monthly average it costs $30 per child. The only other option is to send a child further from home. But in that case, the child has to travel long distances, possibly alone. That leaves a difficult choice for the parent.

Ms. Claxton decided to keep her children in District 9 schools, and she is forced to pay for transportation for her three children when bad weather strikes.

“It’s just not fair that a parent who wants the best education possible for their children simply cannot afford this,” she said. “It puts a lot of tension on my household.