ALBANY — Sex predators, pedophiles, perverts and drug dealers will finally get yanked from behind the wheels of New York’s school buses.
For the first time in a quarter-century, the state is expanding the list of crimes that permanently ban offenders from the ranks of the 54,000 drivers who transport 2.3 million students to and from schools daily in New York.
A new law signed by Gov. Cuomo yesterday adds third-degree rape and a host of other offenses to the list.
Sex crimes against children were specifically included.
An upstate school-district transportation director — whose letter to the editor published in the Kingston Daily Freeman prompted state Sen. John Bonacic (R-Orange) to introduce the bill — called the overdue update “a no-brainer.”
“It doesn’t cost any money,” said David Moraca, transportation director for the Onteora school district in Ulster County and a member of the New York Association for Pupil Transportation.
The law takes effect next February.
“Keeping our children safe must always be a top priority and by signing this legislation we are putting in place additional precautions that will help protect our students,” Cuomo said.