This indicted school bus company seeks new contracts from Paterson schools

PATERSON — The city school district is planning to award another 26 student bus routes worth $1.16 million to American Star, a company under indictment for allegedly putting children at risk by hiring unqualified drivers.

The Board of Education is scheduled to vote next week on approving the bus contracts involving students from eight different Paterson schools as well as children with special needs being transported to programs outside the city.

The schools on the list include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Edward Kilpatrick, Frank Lautenberg, Dale Avenue, Stars Academy, and Nos. 5, 26 and 28.

The district already has in place another $1.2 million worth of busing contracts with American Star covering 13 ongoing student transportation routes.

American Star’s former manager, Henry Rhodes, already has pleaded guilty to helping the company get bus contracts even though it lacked enough qualified drivers to handle the work. Rhodes, who has not been sentenced yet, has agreed to cooperate with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office in its criminal case against American Star, his lawyer said.

There are pending indictments against American Star; its owner, Jwel Khalique; his brother, Shelim Khalique; and Shelim Khalique’s bus company, A-1 Elegant. Rhodes was manager for A-1 Elegant, and his guilty plea involved that company as well. A-1 Elegant previously did student busing for Paterson Public Schools.

The Khalique brothers — siblings of Paterson Councilman Shahin Khalique — last month pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. The councilman also owns a school bus company, Northern Star, which has not been named in any of the criminal proceedings.

Safety checks cease: Paterson drops school bus driver checks for company with pending indictment

The Attorney General's Office filed the original charges against A-1 Elegant and Shahin Khalique in June 2020 and filed the new charges against American Star and both brothers last December. The state says A-1 Elegant passed along its buses, drivers and alleged illegal practices to American Star.

Paterson school officials have said they cannot ban American Star from bidding on bus contracts because the criminal charges against the company remain unresolved.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson, NJ: American Star seeks new student bus contracts