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Dear Educators and Colleagues:
Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your concerns in our June 5th meeting at F.I.T. The Department of Education, and specifically the Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT), looks forward to working closely with you to assure that the transition of the transportation services for Pre-Kindergarten and Early Intervention program participants to DOE’s jurisdiction is as flawless as possible.
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It is our goal that working together we will be able to make immediate and long term changes. Collectively, we can ensure both the constant and high service levels that we all expect.
A great resource for communicating with us and keeping up to date is our website.
In the short-term, we intend to focus our attention on four key areas.
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Communication
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Customer Service Center (CSC) - OPT is in the process of establishing a Pre-K/EI Customer Service Center. We have begun installing the necessary equipment and will be training employees to provide customer service to our Pre-K/EI providers and families. The CSC will be able to provide information to parents, take complaints and coordinate the resolution of service problems with the bus companies.
The Pre-K/EI CSC phone number is (718) 482-3800.
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Electronic Transfer of Information – To enable the efficient flow of information and service we rely on the electronic transfer of information.
- ATS
It is critical to the future success of Pre-K transportation that all information is channeled electronically. All A1P information must be electronically entered by the CPSE’s into ATS. Failure to do so in a timely manner will adversely impact transportation, so please take note!
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Non-Public Schools Calendar System
This web based application records in-service days, closed days and half days. It enables us to be knowledgeable of your schedule.
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Pre-K School System
This web based application records all contact information so that in the event we need to reach you we are able to do so.
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Violations
Please find more detail in the Timeliness section below
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Pre-K Student System
View student information by school.
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Safety
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Driver and Escort Certification and Training - As OPT does with the transportation crews serving school age children, we will perform criminal record reviews over and above those required by 19A certification. OPT will also require additional escort training.
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Timeliness
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Prompt Bus Arrival – We intend to closely monitor the buses’ arrivals at the service sites to assure an appropriate arrival time in relation to the start of the instructional or other scheduled services. As you receive your children everyday at your site, no one is in a better position to report on the timeliness of bus arrivals. In order for you to methodically record bus lateness, we are providing web access to our violations website. On it, you can record the lateness violation which will then be reviewed by an OPT adjudicating panel.
Click Here to Login into the violations system
If you find that you are unable to enter a violation this means that your current transportation contract does not allow for this feature. As future contracts are let by the DOE, we will incorporate this feature. In the meantime, please call us on (718) 482-3800 so that we can register a complaint against the bus vendor.
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Training
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Training for Web Applications – In order to help you navigate our web applications, we are including four training manuals. The four self-tutorials are:
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Non-Public schools Calendar System;
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Pre-K School System;
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Violations; and
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Pre-K Student System.
If you still feel that you need further training, we would be happy to host you. In order to schedule a mutually convenient time, please contact Mr. Edwin Alomar on (718) 349-5779.
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In addition to the changes we are currently implementing, we look forward to continually working with you on longer-term improvements for the clean, safe and reliable transportation of your children.
With warmest regards,
Eric Goldstein
Chief Executive, Office of School Support Services
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