Taking Action: Throggs Neck mother says unreliable school bus upends life for daughter with special needs
Irene Cartagena’s 15-year-old daughter, Zaryiah, returned to school Sept. 4. Cartagena says nearly every day since then has been a guessing game of when the bus will arrive.
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A Throggs Neck mother says she is at her wits’ end after her daughter’s school bus has been late dozens of times since the start of the school year.
Irene Cartagena’s 15-year-old daughter, Zaryiah, returned to school Sept. 4. Cartagena says nearly every day since then has been a guessing game of when the bus will arrive.
“Lateness. No communication from the bus company. I’ve been calling, trying to reach out to them, emphasizing my daughter’s missing classes. No answer,” Cartagena said.
Zaryiah is a sophomore at Millennium Art Academy in Castle Hill and has autism, which Cartagena says makes the situation even more challenging.
“Her attitude and her behaviors have really increased because of that, because, of course, we don’t know what we’re doing on a day-to-day basis,” Cartagena said. “She has therapy sessions for her extracurricular activities. I have to cancel, reschedule because I don’t know what time she’s getting home.”
Cartagena says she filed more than a dozen complaints with the transportation system and reached out to the school but never received a response.
“By my fifth or sixth complaint, at least, you know, ‘We’re on it, we’re working on it,’” she said.
When asked if anyone told her they were looking into it, she responded, “Nothing."
News 12 took her concerns to the Little Lisa Bus Company, who issued the following statement:
"First and foremost, we sincerely apologize. After investigating this route, we will make sure this route runs smoothly and on time from here on out. We will contact the mother and apologize as well. Thank you for bringing this to our attention."
The next morning, Cartagena says she finally heard from the company.
“I kind of figured News 12 got to them,” she said.
She adds that after weeks of delays, Zaryiah finally made it to Millennium Art Academy on time.
“I’m just really glad you reached out to them and when they called me this morning, I said, yes, they got in touch with them!” Cartagena said.
