Online bus route info: NYCSA
School Bus Family Info Share: NYCSA online system set-up and use
- Suggestions & updates welcome at pistnyc@gmail.com - We are not part of DOE; we are just trying to make this system more user friendly, since it’s your only method of directly finding out bus route info, filling out forms, etc. - we do this as volunteers - but others have been highly paid to promote this system.
Contents:
March 2023 survey & video
Written & video guides from 2021-22
Guidance for non-public schoool families from June 2022, including out of the 5 boroughs
March 2023 NEW resources
1) : The Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE), made up of parents, is offering to help get more families connected with the NYCSA system AKA the My Student account.
If your child with an IEP attends a school that is not part of Community School Districts 1-32 nor Citywide District 75, please seek help from ccse@schools.nyc.gov
or complete this survey: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAANAAU3eko9UMklITTdFQ05FWDQ0R0IwOTNBWTFYMzU3Ui4u
NOTE: Like it or not, this online system is your key to route info, future GPS, and Education Council elections that start next month.
…………………………
2) English video on using NYCSA (live link)
This is on the public schools website for English-speaking, Hearing public school parents who are familiar with certain terms; it shows what the screens look like, at least on a desktop. In Vimeo, you can activate closed captions which are mostly accurate (exception: when the narrator says “colon” they say Poland) but cannot auto-translate those. It tells you creation codes come from the school but not how.
Below the video is a series of stills with captions. It instructs parents in English on how to access other languages on the NYCSA page.
Below that is a box NYCSA Sign Up Guide for Parents in Multiple Languages with links to PDFs
Note: none of these go into detail about using the Transportation link nor about voting in CCEC elections which are coming up April to May 2023.
From Community Education Councils, 2021
Spanish
https://4.files.edl.io/19a8/04/12/21/194238-da67a554-0d22-44e3-bea0-af149cb4b898.pdf
English:
https://4.files.edl.io/c475/04/12/21/194234-a7d4be32-2709-4f3d-b6fc-e2da739c1b32.pdf
Source: a school website https://www.is228.org/apps/news/article/1417486
From Legal Services NY, 2021
Digital Literacy Guide for Parents: Navigating NYC Department of Educations' Online Sites and Apps (PDF, 2021)
English legalservicesnyc.org/storage/PDFs/digital%20literacy%20for%20parents%20and%20guardians.pdf
Spanish https://www.legalservicesnyc.org/storage/PDFs/spanish%20digital%20literacy%20for%20parents%20and%20guardians.pdf
Source: https://www.legalservicesnyc.org/what-we-do/practice-areas-and-projects/access-to-education
From Advocates for Children, Fall 2021
English:
Video, time stamp 23:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFpxY10dBNM
Slides, # 21-26 https://www.advocatesforchildren.org/sites/default/files/on_page/busing_101_webinar_slides_10.2021.pdf?pt=1
Source: https://www.advocatesforchildren.org/
From NYCDOE
- assumes school has sent a code home on paper https://www.schools.nyc.gov/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ac-policy-nycsa-parent-flyer
District 75 flyer, Summer 2022 (encourages families to make account but does not provide steps)
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100065631918296
D75 is rumored to have online NYCSA video tutorials in many languages - anybody got links??
Can non-public schools get NYCSA? There are 2 answers.
A NYCSA guide published in June 2022 says no, and neither can non-DOE pre-K families. See bottom of page 5 https://infohub.nyced.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/technical-guide-for-family-access-management-and-nyc-schools-account.pdf
HOWEVER: We also heard in late June 2022 that Staff at Non public schools, charter, and 4410 schools can get NYCSA "Creation Codes" from the community school district where the school is located & then give it to the parents of school bus riders.
Ask for Family Support Coordinator since superintendents are busy/new.
To help school staff find this person, see the 5 boroughs public school map at https://schoolsearch.schools.nyc/ Select on top right
and cross reference with the Contact Your District heading under https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/leadership/district-leadership
Encourage your school staff to persist, even if the person they reach is not aware that this is something they can do. Staff can explain that it would be easier to help the school all at once than to have multiple requests from each individual parent from that school.
Source: CCSE and D75 DLT members,as told by DOE Special Education division, also IncludeNYC staff chimed in.
One non-public mom suggests: When you receive the NYCSA codes on paper, make copies and keep it with you to make sure you enter it correctly and are not locked out.
[Meanwhile Public school parents have told PIST that their codes reset and changed every few months, leaving them locked out…]
CONTACT PIST if you want to help legislate equal access to timely information on bus routes.
What about families whose child’s placement is out of the 5 boros?
Not sure but as a starting point:
Slide 27 of https://www.advocatesforchildren.org/sites/default/files/on_page/busing_101_webinar_slides_10.2021.pdf?pt=1 has links to the email addresses for one of the citywide District 75 Transportation Liaisons and to Transportation Support Liaisons in non-public schools in the 5 boros and beyond, some of which are still accurate as of June 2022.
Please inform pistnyc@gmail.com if the emails you try work or not, and if the person truly has capacity to give you/your school the NYCSA creation codes.
Note: we’re aware that slide’s link for D1-32 liaisons is a dead end now. If you/your school need those emails & numbers for other reasons. please see Summer 2022 list from OPT w/phone numbers & emails at https://www.facebook.com/pistnyc/photos/pcb.1926566754199686/5352179084860548/