Dec 2025
Update 1/5/26: summary/video of some events is now below each, in different color rounded boxes.
Calendar of Events for December 2025 of interest to the school bus community.
Wednesday December 3
Dec 3 every year is International Day of Persons with Disabilities
#DisabilityDay and #IDPD are the main hashtags on social media. If you post about the rights of school bus riders with IEPs to have equal access to education please use #WheresMyBus as well.
United Nations logo of International Day of Persons with Disabilities. #IDPD #WheresMyBus
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Monday December 8, 6:30 p.m. Virtual Student conversation on school transportation, part 2.
District 75 legislative council is hosting this group for school aged youth (with or without an IEP) who advocate for their & their classmates’ needs as riders of yellow buses or mass transit.
If you know of a student who would like to be invited, contact d75prescouncil@gmail.com
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Tuesday December 9 SPECIAL PIST LUNCH HOUR ZOOM: Freedom to travel for young people with disabilities. 1:00 to 2:00 PM on Zoom. With guest expert Anna Humphrey, CIDNY.org. Rights and processes for Access A ride, Reduced Fare OMNY...and always, the school bus.
Flyer below with alt text in the caption.
Please send questions in advance to pistnyc@gmail.com Then enter the waiting room at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82470154849?pwd=EkGoVlJygHnxz7MZPqMQC2OT5x0tK1.1
Meeting ID: 824 7015 4849 Passcode: 937177
Horizontal flyer with logos of CIDNY and PIST, graphics of people including a person using a wheelchair, a QR code and the following text: Join PIST on Tuesday December 9th. Freedom to travel for young people with disabilities. 1:00 to 2:00 PM on Zoom. With guest expert Anna Humphrey, CIDNY.org. Rights and processes for Access A ride, Reduced Fare OMNY...and always, the school bus.
Video of CIDNY presentation - NEW!!
Freedom to Travel for Young People with Disabilities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYVOIhaJ6NA
We learned so much from advocate Anna Humphrey about Access-A-Ride,
Reduced Fares, the fight for subway elevators, and more!
Video is in English, but you can click the CC and Settings icons to translate the subtitles into another language.
Aprendimos muchísimo de la defensora Anna Humphrey
sobre Access-A-Ride, tarifas reducidas,
la lucha por los ascensores de metro y mucho más.
El video está en inglés, pero puedes hacer clic en los iconos de CC y Configuración para traducir los subtítulos a otro idioma.
Wednesday December 10, 1pm to 3pm
Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY monthly Consumer Action Network zoom meeting: Accessibility for Students with Disabilities & Afterschool Busing
Please RSVP in advance at tinyurl.com/CIDNY4All or email mthiam@cidny.org or call 212-674-2300 especially if you need to request accommodations! Flyer is below.
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Thursday December 11, 6:30 p.m. - PIST presentation at the Youth and Education Committee of Manhattan Community Board 12, Washington Heights. VIRTUAL. Visit https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yYXe54-_S1WlD6wE9swDNA#/registration and select December 11 to register.
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Monday December 15 9:00 a.m. at 2 Broadway, Manhattan. Monthly MTA committee meetings, where Disability Rights activists testify about elevators and other accessibility issues. We want an end to tickets for minors whose OMNY didn’t work or got lost! Contact cidny.org or look it up on mta site.
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CANCELLED Monday December 15, 6:30 p.m. Citywide Council on District 75 Busing Committee monthly meeting with language interpretation. Give and get support on route problems.
Flyers with all of this committee’s 2025-26 meeting dates in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Bangla available at https://www.instagram.com/p/DQsIPgwCetC/?img_index=1
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***Wednesday December 17, 8:45 AM.- Audit of OPT (Office of Pupil Transportation) released by NYC Comptroller’s office. Press conference indoors in the City Hall area, joined by busing advocates and activists. Space is VERY limited. Contact pistnyc@gmail.com if you wish to be part of the delegation of bus parents standing there.
10/31/2022 A PIST parent in a skeleton costume stands on the steps of Tweed holding a sign that reads: Waiting for school bus owners and O.P.T. to open their books!
NEW!! Report from the above event: Audit of OPT calls for Overhauling NYC school bus service
On December 17, the outgoing NYC Comptroller Brad Lander hosted a press briefing to share results of a multi-year examination of certain contracts and processes in effect at OPT.
This was also supported by the NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is still in office.
Media coverage tended to zoom in on specific numbers, but left out the conclusions that the city should “consolidate and improve school busing,” and the new Mayor designate a person to take lead on this.
The document outlines some pros and cons of 3 scenarios:
Rebidding contracts with EPP (which we still have to fight to get passed in Albany, see https://actionnetwork.org/letters/help-improve-bus-service-for-nyc-students/);
Making school busing a centralized municipal service with city benefits and job security for the employees; or Expanding the non-profit model that we know today as NYCSBUS.
The official summary is at https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/routing-our-childrens-futures/
The video from the press briefing is at https://www.youtube.com/live/Aa2khFND4Sg
Besides the electeds, two school bus parent leaders and Ms. Rasheta, a former bus rider who is a Disability movement leader, also spoke. The press release is at https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comptroller-brad-lander-calls-for-major-school-bus-system-overhaul/
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Photo below from just after the briefing:
photo by PIST NYC dad/granddad Johnnie Stevens 12/17/2025
Image description - Black & white photo - Diverse group of women poses in front of a wall sign reading Office of the Comptroller of the City of New York. Women at left wears a button that says Parents to Improve School Transportation; Woman at right holds up the printed Audit report.
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Wednesday December 17, 6:00 p.m.- Monthly Panel for Education Policy meeting, Bronx
There are no busing contracts until January. However, PEP meetings are an opportunity for public comment on transportation issues, such as the 25 year old Chancellor’s Regulation A-801 on pupil transportation eligibility. Check https://www.schools.nyc.gov/get-involved/families/panel-for-education-policy/panel-meetings for details and visit https://www.pistnyc.org/resources/pep-comment-steps for tips on submitting comments in writing.
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Thursday December 18, 7:00 p.m. Citywide Council on Special Education hosts OPT. Contact ccse@schools.nyc.gov for address, link, language lines, and busing survey.
UPDATE from 12/18/25 CCSE meeting: The team from OPT shared a power point about the GPS tracking system for those who have NYCSA, connectivity, data. [NOTE: The next day, PIST facebook group members were sharing screenshots and stories of ongoing trouble with that overpriced Via app. We continue to refer people to this resource: https://www.pistnyc.org/resources/better-trackers ].
When the issue of Student OMNY for citywide enrichment came up, several participants in the meeting had to remind one OPT rep, who was listing the glories of this card, that yellow bus riders do not get OMNY cards, which school bus parents consider discriminatory. [NOTE: The CCSE passed an excellent resolution about this, last school year which you can get from us or from ccse@schools.nyc.gov Also anyone can sign the current youth-initiated petition at: https://act.transalt.org/a/expand-student-omny ]
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*Public schools close Wednesday Dec 24, 2025 and reopen Monday Jan 5, 2026.
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Save the dates in 2026:
January PIST virtual meetings: Friday evening January 9, and Tues lunchtime January 20 (CORRECTION)
PIST table at Include NYC Fair: Saturday January 24, 10:30 am - 3:00 pm, Manhattan.
National Transit Equity Day: Wednesday February 4 (Rosa Parks’ birthday)