03.30.09 - DMV cites bus drivers at Hicksville school
Police and state investigators dispatched by the Nassau
District Attorney's office Friday found that seven out of
ten bus drivers at the Hicksville school where a child choked
last week were not licensed to drive buses, a District Attorney
spokesman said.
The Carousel Day School drivers were confronted by police
and investigators from the state Department of Motor Vehicles
and Office of Children and Family Services as they got out
of their buses in the morning. The seven drivers who did
not have commercial drivers licenses, as they were required
to, were ticketed and charged with "operating out of
class". That charge can carry a $300 fine or 15 days
in jail, said Chris Munzing, a spokesman for Nassau District
Attorney Kathleen Rice.
One driver even admitted that she had twice failed the
commercial drivers license test, Munzing said.
Robert McDonald, of Mineola, a lawyer for Carousel Day
School Owner Gene Formica, did not return several calls
seeking comment yesterday.
Rice launched a criminal probe into Carousel Day School
last week after 2-year-old Olivia Raspanti died after choking
on a carrot that police said she took from a bag her teacher
left behind a desk.
Meanwhile, a source close to District Attorney Kathleen
Rice's criminal investigation said Rice "has her sites
set on criminal charges against the facility and maybe even
the managers involved."
The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, also
said the investigation is widening, and prosecutors are
looking into the possibility that Carousel bus drivers regularly
transport children from local school districts.
The New York State Office of Children and Family Services,
which licenses day care centers, have already declared Carousel's
toddler program illegal. This week the New York Education
Department also promised an investigation of the school.
Education Department Spokesman Jonathan Burman said experts
planned to do a "general walk through" of the
school as soon as possible.
Lawyers for the Raspanti family, Joseph Conway, of Mineola
and Thomas Foley, of Garden City issued a statement yesterday
saying, "We have full confidence in the District Attorney's
committment to fully investigating this case and bringing
the appropriate charges."
Munzing said investigators also found that Carousel had
not been maintaining the proper paperwork on its bus drivers.
He said there were 14 instances of improper or nonexistent
record keeping.
Munzing said the center has 10 days to remedy the record
keeping errors or they risk revocation of their license
to transport children.
Munzing said investigators are also checking license plates,
registrations and insurance on the buses, but they had not
yet gotten the results.
DMV spokesman Ken Brown said Thursday that Carousel has
been registered with them since 1994 and has no record of
complaints. All bus drivers at the school are required to
be 19-A certified, meaning they have to clear background
checks and receive the appropriate training, among other
things.
If a new driver is hired, Carousel is required to tell
the DMV and to show that they have the appropriate license
and certification, Brown said.
DMV investigators on-scene at the school Friday talked
to staffers while Nassau police videotaped the exteriors
of the center's minibuses.
A woman who did not give her name dropped her daughter
at the center Friday, saying she was not worried about the
presence of authorities.
She said she was glad Carousel was open for the day - so
that she could go to work.
In previous interviews, McDonald has said that Carousel
is a well-run operation, and that Formica simply did not
know he needed a separate license to run a day care.
- Ann Givens & Sumathi
Reddy: Newsday Staff Writers
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