From
The New York Daily News. In the picture, Jacqueline Peralta, with kids Luis and Carla Diaz at Inwood apartment, says they're loaded on school bus long before day ends at PS 79 in East Harlem.
The city has cheated some special needs kids out of valuable time in school, pulling them from class early to catch their ride home.
Across the city, the Daily News found scores of students boarding school buses as much as 40 minutes before the official end of the day.
"It's not right. They're not helping the kids learn more or get better in school," said Jacqueline Peralta, 35, mother of two students, Luis Diaz, 16, and Carla Diaz, 14, who attend Public School 79 in East Harlem because they use wheelchairs and have learning disabilities.
On a December afternoon, two dozen students at PS 79 boarded buses at least a half-hour before the end of classes.
The News also visited PS 188 in Belmont, the Bronx, where more than 60 students had to leave class before the official end of the day. At PS 373 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, more than 30 students were out of the building early.
After The News told the city Education Department about how early children were being dismissed, officials acknowledged six schools needed to allow children more time in class.
"I cannot understand how the chancellor of New York City has allowed this to happen to these children," said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew. "All children need their seattime inside the classroom, and we could make an argument that these children probably need it more than others."
At PS 993 in Queens, PS 373 in Brooklyn and PS 17 and PS 188 in the Bronx, along with PS 37 and South Richmond High School IS/PS 25 in Staten Island, students will now be dismissed at the proper time - starting "immediately" - Education Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said.
She defended the practice at four schools - PS 138 and PS 79 in Manhattan, along with PS 811 in the Bronx and PS 811 in Brooklyn. There, Feinberg said, schools dismiss students early because they suffer from several medical conditions. They'll be allowed to continue this practice.
"Students who leave early ... receive instruction during breakfast and lunch to make up any instructional [time] lost by leaving early," she said.
Still, some parents at these schools are unhappy about the practice.
The bus for Peralta's children left 25 minutes before the official end of the day, traveling five minutes to a nearby school, where Luis and Carla waited 30 minutes for other children to board.
Peralta said her children do not receive all the services they need, specifically enough physical therapy. Feinberg said they are given all the services they need and instruction during mealtimes.
Brooklyn's PS 811 PTA President Gloria Smith said she has never seen instruction going on at breakfast or lunch.
"What kind of instruction should they be giving at breakfast and lunch? Right now, they're doing a lot of talking - the ones that are verbal," she said.
"I don't understand how the Department of Education expects our children to get all the services they need if they're leaving early."
From The New York Daily News. In the picture, Jacqueline Peralta, with kids Luis and Carla Diaz at Inwood apartment, says they're loaded on school bus long before day ends at PS 79 in East Harlem.