A state audit of East Ramapo’s school transportation system has revealed systemic problems that raise continued concerns about safety and finances — especially for the yeshiva buses the district funds.

For decades, the East Ramapo Central School District in Rockland County has been plagued with complaints of mismanagement and preferential treatment to the private schools. Accusations that the Haredi majority on the school board neglects the public schools has extra bite because Haredi children attend private yeshivas. In July, Education Commissioner Betty Rosa ordered the board to raise more money for schools by raising property taxes so it could make up for what she called the “capricious” policy that “inequitably favors nonpublic school students at the expense of public school students.”

Transportation is one of the many problems that beset the district. Busing students to and from schools is complex, expensive and, more recently, dangerous. In March the district terminated the director of transportation after a fatal bus accident in January and another in February. These accidents, and another serious accident in March, prompted the June audit which was first posted and reported on by Lohud, who FOIA-ed the document. The audit notes flaws in the oversight of routes, driver-training, pupils in transit, and costs.

The school district of East Ramapo student transportation system relies on around 40 contracted bus drivers to operate. These contractors are divided into two groups: Fleet Contractors, and Yeshiva Private Contractors. While the Fleet Contractors drive public school students, Yeshiva Contractors drive private school yeshiva students. Though the audit pointed out issues with Fleet Contractors, its primary concerns have to do with Yeshiva contracted bus drivers.

The first problem the audit notes is one of information and communication. The audit states that “there is a disconnect between the District and the Yeshiva Private Contractors.” One of these disconnects has to do with the Yeshiva drivers not knowing which students are on the buses. “While they may know in a ‘general’ sense who is on the bus, they do not know on any type of regular basis,” explained the audit. The audit suggested that this problem worsens on Friday afternoons, when yeshiva students are given early dismissals for Shabbat and school schedules change. 

It is particularly important for the Yeshiva drivers to track which students they transport, as they design their daily bus routes based on the students they drive, unlike the Fleet Contractors who follow set routes. While routes fluctuate daily, the district is not informed of these changes and does not have access to the bus’ active locations, via its GPS systems – making it nearly impossible for the district to communicate children’s whereabouts to parents while being transported home.

Not being able to track students is both a safety issue and a financial problem, since Yeshiva contractors are paid by the number of students they drive. Even after the 2019 suggestion that the state was being overcharged for buses in 2019, no apparent mechanism was put in place for the district to receive a count of students on the bus every day to know whether drivers are billing accurately.

Among other examples of “potential malfeasance,” the audit looked at a sample of driver documentation and found, along with widespread non-compliance, potential fraud by supervisors claiming to have certified and trained drivers. As an example, one driver Israel David Fried stated that he had been given the Physical Performance Test – which all drivers must be able to perform before driving the school bus. Though Fried stated that he had been given the test, he could not describe any part of it. Even after being given prompts describing the test, Fried still could not recall or describe any component of it. However, his driver’s file contained a completed Performance Test, signed off by a superior in December of 2022.

While the audit raised the alarm about the Yeshiva drivers, it also pointed out that the Fleet driver system also has room for improvement. “The greatest amount of consistency is seen with the Fleet contractors who are provided with the routes from the district. However, even though they are being given the routes, consistency goes away with the regular early dismissals time changes on Fridays."

The audit concluded with a list of recommendations to improve the safety of East Ramapo’s student transportation system. These suggestions included requiring the district access to GPS  bus locations, as well as ensuring contractors who make their own routes inform the district of their trajectory and students onboard before the bus ride begins.