Farmingdale, Seaford cheer teams delayed on way to NYS tournament after being sent buses without seat belts
Farmingdale, Seaford cheer teams bus arrives in Binghamton on Friday. Credit: Heather Ainsworth/Heather Ainsworth
The Farmingdale and Seaford High School cheerleading teams were delayed on their trips to the state tournament in Binghamton on Friday because the charter buses lacked seat belts, according to Pat Pizzarelli, the executive director of Nassau County scholastic sports.
The Farmingdale bus pulled over in Queens after the team's coaching staff did a safety check.
“I asked about the seat belt and the bus driver said there was none,” Farmingdale cheer coach Caitlin Beatrice told Newsday. “I asked him to stop the bus.”
On Sept. 21, 2023, a charter bus carrying the Farmingdale High School band crashed on Interstate 84 in Orange County, New York, killing two instructors, Gina Pellettiere, 43, of Massapequa, and Beatrice Ferrari, 77, of Farmingdale, and injuring dozens of students.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The cheerleading teams for Farmingdale and Seaford high schools were delayed on their trips to the state championships Friday morning because the buses that arrived to pick them up did not have seat belts.
- The Farmingdale coach discovered the problem as the bus entered Queens and ordered the driver to pull over. Seaford found the issue before leaving school and was sent a new bus with seat belts and then picked up the Farmingdale team on their way to Binghamton.
- A state law went into effect in April 2025 requiring passengers 8 years old and older to wear seat belts. The law was passed after a bus carrying the Farmingdale band crashed in 2023, killing two instructors and injuring dozens of students.
The crash led to a state law that went into effect in April 2025 and requires passengers ages 8 and older on charter buses to wear seat belts.
On Friday morning, the Seaford team did not leave school grounds after realizing the bus was not properly equipped. While the team was waiting for a new bus, it received a call from Pizzarelli's office asking them to pick up the Farmingdale team, which was waiting in a shopping center parking lot in Queens, and continue on to Binghamton. The bus arrived in Binghamton shortly after 5 p.m. Seaford has 16 cheerleaders and Farmingdale has 19. Each team has two coaches.
Farmingdale High School sent a letter to parents, obtained by Newsday, that read, in part: "Shortly after departing, and after reviewing the required safety video, our coaching staff noticed that the assigned bus was not equipped with seat belts ... The bus was immediately pulled off the road, and a replacement was requested. Members of the District Administration arrived on the scene to provide support (and cookies!) while the athletes waited."
According to Pizzarelli, Nassau County's public schools have a busing contract with Coachman Luxury Transport, but Pizzarelli said Coachman did not have enough buses and had to contract out the buses for Farmingdale and Seaford.
A Coachman representative who declined to give his name said he could not provide the name of the company that sent the buses to Farmingdale and Seaford but added that Coachman sent the bus to Seaford as soon as it learned of the issue.
Pizzarelli said the expectation is the bus company will supply the proper buses but that it's also up the schools to make sure the buses meet the safety standard.
“The district personnel trusts that the company will follow the guidelines and send a bus that meets all the safety concerns transporting school kids,” Pizzarelli said. “That did not happen this morning. Luckily the coach said something and had the bus stopped."
The law defines a charter bus as "a bus manufactured or assembled on or after November 28, 2016, for transporting a group of passengers to a specific destination or for a particular itinerary in exchange for compensation."
“There are buses that were built before the law went into effect that don’t have seat belts,” Pizzarelli said. “We are dealing with a situation where there aren’t enough buses to accommodate our state travel needs.”
The delay caused the teams to miss their scheduled practice times at the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton in the afternoon. After notifying the state of the delay, the teams were rescheduled for practice at 9 p.m. The state competition begins on Saturday.
Justin Jonas, the assistant executive director for Section VIII school sports, said Friday's problems speak to the larger issue of a lack of buses.
“The crux of this is really the state of the bus industry,” he said. “After COVID, the bus industry took a big hit, and some companies went out of business. After the Farmingdale band accident, the prices for insurance forced some companies out of business, limiting availability.”
Newsday's Lorena Mongelli contributed to this report
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
