NYC School Buses Will Return For First Day Of School: De Blasio

NEW YORK CITY — The wheels on New York City school buses will go round and round when students return to classrooms on Sept. 21.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that school bus service will be back and available to all children who need it this coming school year.

"This will start from the first day of school — on Monday, Sept. 21 we'll have 100,000 bus seats, available," he said.

Roughly 697,000 students are enrolled in the city's "blended learning" plan, according to the Department of Education. The plan means students will spend part of their week in classrooms — an unprecedented goal for a school district this size amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Parents will receive notifications starting Wednesday about bus plans, de Blasio said. Those notifications will be complete by the end of this week, he said.

The city contracted with 60 bus companies, officials said. Buses will run with their windows open and undergo nightly cleanings to stop the spread of coronavirus, de Blasio said.

There will be 5,962 special education routes and 2,470 general routes, de Blasio said.