Hundreds of city school-bus drivers have been disciplined for disgusting and dangerous behavior — from taking photos up a child’s skirt to drinking booze behind the wheel — but the vast majority remain on the job, a Post analysis of city records shows.
From December 2015 to July 2017, the city Department of Education punished bus drivers and attendants in 281 incidents that endangered kids. Yet in only 32 cases did the employee lose the ability to work with city schoolkids, according to data The Post acquired through a Freedom of Information Law request after suing the DOE.
Only in rare cases did student-transport workers lose their city school-bus driver certifications:
- Driver Sergot Medy was decertified after children reported that he watched porn while driving — and that his inattention nearly caused him to hit a car, a DOE report says.
Medy said the kids made up the accusations, because he was strict and they didn’t like him.
“I only have one hour with the kids,” he told The Post. “I have the whole day to do what you say. That don’t make no sense.” - Driver Michael Laveaux’s driving privileges were yanked after he took photos up a child’s skirt with his cellphone, the records say. He was arrested and charged, and the NYPD said the records were sealed. Laveaux could not be reached for comment.
- Cops arrested bus attendant Jose Collado-Mena in June for allegedly showing a 13-year-old student “animated pornography,” including images of nude women, on his cellphone while on a school bus, a criminal complaint says. He was charged with child endangerment, and the DOE’s Office of Pupil Transportation decertified him. His attorney called the allegations “baseless.”
In the vast majority of cases, workers were slapped with suspensions but returned to work:
- School-bus operator Eddy Amilcar drove so fast one morning that “children got off the bus crying and hysterical because they feared the bus would get into an accident,” records say. He was back behind the wheel after a 60-day suspension.
“Definitely everything they said about me is a lie,” Amilcar said in a phone interview from behind the wheel of his school bus. He told The Post he pulled over to take the call. - Attendant Elvire Bottex was arrested after she was accused of punching and slapping a child, leaving bruises. Authorities said the criminal case is sealed. Bottex denied the allegations, and said she was back working on a school bus.
“They dropped the case, because the child’s mom was lying,” Bottex told The Post. “I never punched a child.” - Driver Anthony Whitehead asked a special-needs student out on a date and texted her vulgarities, records say. He claimed the text was meant for someone else and the content misconstrued. He was slapped with a five-day suspension. Whitehead could not be reached for comment.
Of the 281 incidents in the 20-month period, 24 involved alcohol. Of those, 21 drivers and attendants were arrested for off-duty drunken driving and three were suspected of drinking on the job. The latter three were decertified and can no longer work as DOE bus drivers.
The 21 others were suspended; 12 were put back on the job; and eight remain suspended pending the outcome of their criminal cases. One no longer works as a DOE bus driver.
The DOE defended its decisions.
“We have clear protocols in place to ensure vendors and their employees comply with all regulations, and appropriate disciplinary action was taken in each of these cases,” spokeswoman Toya Holness said.