Many public school buses transporting young students and children with disabilities during an interminable heat wave in New York City don’t have air conditioning, families told The Post.

The advocacy group Parents to Improve School Transportation (PIST), citing workforce sources, says more than half of the buses don’t have cool air.

The city Department of Education has received hundreds of complaints about sweltering conditions on the vehicles since the “Summer Rising” academic and camp program began July 5, according to city data. The DOE did not provide its own counts of the buses without air conditioning or affected students.

“The bus drivers are sweating through their uniforms, the attendants [too],” said Paullette Healy, a parent in Brooklyn with two children in public schools and member of the Citywide Council for Special Education. “Kids are coming off flushed, fatigued, exhausted — so many signs of dehydration and heat stroke.”

The DOE estimated there are roughly 41,000 students being bused this summer. 

The crisis reached a boiling point on Thursday, when an overturned school bus in the Bronx injured dozens of drivers and staff, and led to delays and prolonged commutes for many more children. Advocates told The Post that children got nauseous and dizzy on the bus. 

“It’s hot. The AC is not working. They have no access to a bathroom or to water. Those are the circumstances that follow when accidents like this happen,” said Healy. 

According to the DOE, AC-related complaints so far this summer are down since before the pandemic in 2019 by approximately 75% — from 1,124 in 2019 at the same point in the summer to 285 this year as of mid-week. 

But advocates are certain that the number is an undercount, as parents report being put on hold for hours by the Office of Pupil Transportation’s call center — or not getting through at all. And when families try to file complaints online, they receive an auto-reply to call the hotline, they said.

Rima Izquierdo, a Bronx-based parent and advocate, told The Post she has filed multiple complaints about the heat, but the cases get closed because the buses are standard and do not have the capacity for cooling.

“They’re deterring people from filing incidents that give you a number and become something you can track,” Izquierdo said.

Those issues have persisted despite a recent $9.4-million contract to expand help desk services to support school bus inquiries, including up to 20,000 calls and 2,000 web chats monthly.

“My kids will come off the bus red, very flushed. Feverish. Sweating,” said Izquierdo. “The back of their shirt soaked, the front of their shirt in the middle soaked. Maybe sometimes the pants will have sweat marks from sitting down for so long. Both of my kids have asthma, so sometimes it results in them feeling tightness in their breath.

Of the drivers and attendants, she added, “Those are deplorable work conditions. You have to take care of children, you have to be attentive. How, if you feel you’re going to pass out yourself? It’s not safe for a driver to be driving in that heat.”

The Special Commissioner of Investigation put school bus vendors on notice in 2019 with an investigation into those operating at dangerously hot temperatures. Since then, the DOE says it has heightened inspection of vendors, including surprise visits, and increased follow-up on violators. Officials did not give the results of the actions, including fines.

The DOE also conducted meetings with bus companies reviewing “Climate Control Policy,” it said, but would not provide additional details. Buses without AC installed are ventilated with open windows, they added. 

Queens mom Denise Owens said her 11-year-old son Evan, who has autism, is legally entitled to cooler school buses as part of his individual education plan, or IEP.

“The city is having cooling centers, yet we’re putting our children on a hot bus. We’re giving out heat advisories, but we’re going to throw children with special needs on a hot bus,” Owens said.

Owens told The Post she has at least three open complaints to the pupil transportation office.

“When it comes to AC specifically, they’re breaking the law,” said Healy. “Any company that is not pulling a vehicle off the road without AC is violating the law.” 

Climate change experts are “virtually certain” that heat waves will become more common and more intense in future years.

“Every student who relies on school busing deserves a safe and comfortable ride to school, and we hold bus companies accountable to this standard,” said Jenna Lyle, a spokesperson for the DOE.

“The DOE’s Office of Pupil Transportation tracks and quickly addresses any and all escalations related to temperatures on school buses, including assigning inspectors as needed and following up with bus companies based on reports received.” 

Lyle encouraged families to contact the Office of Pupil Transportation call center at 718-392-8855.