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Community groups and SEIU demand full safe‑passage funding and higher standards for bus vendors
Summary
Advocates for the Safe Passage program and SEIU Local 73 officials urged the Chicago Board of Education to protect and fully fund Safe Passage staff and to set stronger requirements for transportation vendors, including functioning air conditioning and heating on buses used by students.
Speakers during public participation on April 24 urged the Chicago Board of Education to preserve and expand the Safe Passage program and to raise standards for private transportation vendors whose contracts are expiring.
SEIU Local 73: Tremaine Reeves, director of the CPS division of SEIU Local 73, told the board that a number of transportation vendor contracts will expire this summer and urged the board to require vendors to provide functioning air conditioning and heat on school buses at all times. Reeves said four vendor contracts are in final extension through June 30 and nine additional contracts expire July 31, and he said current contracts require climate control only when an IEP or 504 explicitly specifies it. Reeves warned that lack of climate control creates unsafe conditions for vulnerable students and staff.
Safe Passage advocates: Representatives from Alliance for Community Peace and other community organizations described Safe Passage as essential to student safety and attendance. Phyllis Harrell, CEO of Alliance for Community Peace, said Safe Passage serves 191 schools and has 30 schools on a waiting list; she said staffing cuts and hiring freezes threaten program stability and urged the board to restore or maintain funding and staff. Virgil Crawford of the Westside Health Authority described Safe Passage workers as community connectors who help children get to and from school safely.
Why it matters: Advocates said Safe Passage reduces barriers to attendance and helps keep students safe on routes to school. SEIU's request targets vendor contract language and operational standards; advocates said the board should set district‑wide minimums for vendor performance to protect students and staff.
Board follow‑up: The board did not take a separate vote on the vendor standards or on Safe Passage funding during the meeting; speakers asked the board and staff to follow up. SEIU requested that the board adopt contract language requiring climate control on buses and other operational improvements before new vendor agreements are executed.
