Talking (and Checking) Out Loud During the Post-Trip Inspection

By Peggy Burns

It’s said that some people dream in Technicolor; I think in “yellow.” The result is that I get inspiration about school transportation from strange places.

In the July 2008 “Better Homes and Gardens” magazine, an article entitled “Steer Them Straight” recommends ways to “teach seeing” to teenagers who are new drivers, learning to focus. The article references Dr. Susan Smith Kuczmarski’s recommendation in The Sacred Flight of the Teenager to have teenagers, “Say out loud what you see as you drive, and articulate what you do to drive safely.”

Why not adapt this excellent idea for school bus drivers as they do their post-trip inspections, looking for students who might otherwise be left behind? Tell them to say out loud such observations as “I’m passing row one and see no one on or under the seats. Now I’m passing row two. I’ve searched low under the seats in that row.” And so on.

Yes, it’s more tedious than the ever-changing landscape of the road. But I believe driver trainers and bus drivers can find creative ways to describe row by row, seat by seat explorations, as they search for precious cargo who might otherwise remain hidden.

Peggy Burns is an attorney/consultant with Education Compliance Group, Inc. Peggy can be reached at (888) 604-6141 and by email.

Protests and Pleas Aside, Employee Concessions Are What Saved Jobs: Report

For the last week, the Salem News reported on developments in the Salem (Mass.) School District’s plans to privatize in-district special needs transportation at a cost savings of approximately $450,000.

Drivers, attendants, other union members, parents and children all took part in large-scale picketing and also provided emotional testimony at board meetings to protest the plan. Many cited their years of experience and the consistent, familiar and personalized service that they claimed only they could provide for their students with disabilities.

It turns out the privatization plans were dropped late last week, but only after the unionized special needs drivers and attendants agreed to major contract givebacks. They include cutting back their hours from 40 to 25 hours per week and adopting a new health plan that will increase doctor visit co-payments from $5 to $15.

"I hope it serves as an example some of our other bargaining units would look forward to," Mayor Kim Driscoll said about the concessions.

School districts as well as companies across the country have resorted to wage cuts or freezes and to health insurance reductions or restructuring as ways to respond to economic pressures. What are your experiences?

How Student Injuries Suffered on the Bus Affect Private Contracts?

By Ryan Gray

An administrative ruling last fall in Chicago found that Illinois school districts aren't mandated to change private bus providers in the event a student suffers an on-board injury. The case, Chicago Sch. Dist. 299, 51 IDELR 145 (SEA IL 2008), arose when a teen student with multiple disabilities suffered minor indjures as a result of not being properly secured on the school bus. The hearing officer ruled that the school district was not required to use a different private company to transport the student in the future, but the district was ordered to provide one day of compensatory education to make up for the services the student missed while he was receiving medical treatment. The fact that a student with multiple disabilities suffered minor injuries after being improperly secured on the school bus did not require an Illinois district to contract with a different bus company. However, a hearing officer ordered the district to provide one day of compensatory education to make up for the services the student missed while he obtained medical treatment.

Video Reminds of the Importance Busing to School has for Special Needs Students

This from Peggy Burns, attorney and owner of Education Compliance Group, Inc., on an unintended lesson learned during the filming of her new training video "The Road to Compliance for Special Needs Drivers:"

"All of the scenes from 'The Road to Compliance for Special Needs Drivers' were filmed with actual drivers and transportation administrators and their children as the stars. Several of the children are, in fact, students with special needs. Despite a script that I had worked on for months, and excellent input from transportation professionals from whom I sought advice and review, our child actors stimulated new thoughts and points to emphasize. Joey is the boy who steals the scene about the broken wheelchair. His mom – in reality a driver trainer then with the Boulder Valley (Colo.) Public Schools – played the driver, and a friend of the family played his mom. We had neglected to remind Joey that this was all make believe. When he heard his mother say there would be no school for him that day, he became extremely upset, crying and pounding the wheelchair (which he does not, in fact, use in real life.) He provoked the realization that we can too easily overlook the sensitivity of our very vulnerable special riders, for whom school is special in ways we do not even realize.

More About Special Needs Abuse

Last week, we discussed the GAO's report on the abuse of special needs students in their schools. Today, CNN recounts a congressional hearing on the issue. According to Disability Scoop, the White House is "very concerned" about this, too. A senior spokesman says:

The White House is very concerned about the restraint and seclusion issue, especially the deaths and serious injuries that have taken place across the country. We are committed to working with the secretary of education, Congress and the community to explore solutions to this issue.

Are federal standards far off?

GAO: Some Special Needs Students Abused by Their Schools

The special needs and education community is abuzz with a report from the Government Accountability Office on public and private schools and treatment center's use of restraint and seclusion. The report on selected cases of abuse and death prepared for the House Education and labor committee found "hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to the use of these methods on school children during the past two decades."

Examples of cases examined by the GAO include a West Virginia 4-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and autism who "suffered bruising and post traumatic stress disorder after teachers restrained her in a wooden chair with leather straps—described as resembling a miniature electric chair—for being 'uncooperative.'" In another incident, "a special education teacher at a public school was accused of using bungee cords and duct tape to fasten children as young as 5 years old to chairs designed to support kids with muscular difficulties. According to parents, their children sustained injuries such as broken arms and bloody noses while in this teacher’s class. A teacher’s aide told investigators that the woman used the restraints on a daily basis to punish the children."

The GAO finds that despite the fact that it "continues to receive new allegations from parents and advocacy groups" there is no central agency that collects information about these allegations or these methods and no federal guidance on the matter. In reviewing 10 cases in which their where criminal convictions, often involving non-violent students, the GAO finds a few trends: did not give consent; restraints that block air to the lungs can be deadly; teachers and staff in the cases were often not trained on the use of seclusions and restraints; and teachers and staff from at least 5 of the 10 cases continue to be employed as educators.

While there is no mention of any incidents on the school bus in the full report [PDF] some past incidents suggest this is something the school bus industry needs to consider, too. Take a look at the report, let us know what you think. What you share can help the industry become safer and serve special needs students better.

Inspiring Words for Special Needs Students and Some Uninspiring Actions

Tawana Williams, a woman born without arms, shared a message with special needs students in Richmond County (N.C.) during the first annual Transition Support Fair for students with disabilities, the Richmond County Journal reports. She told the students:

“Stop focusing on what you think you can’t do, or what you think you don’t have ... If I was able to overcome my challenges and trials, then no one in this room has any excuse.”

Jeanette Davis, director of exceptional children for RCS, called the message "inspirational" and empowering.

Less inspiring is this from Tremerton, Utah: Driver, Aide Leave Sleeping Autistic Five-Year-Old on Bus. Apparently, the child woke at the bus yard and walked nearly a mile before he was spotted. Both the driver and aide have been placed on leave.

Those with a print copy of the May issue will see an article ("It's Not Just About Driving..." page 26) about how our brains let us forget things like this and how we might stop it. For those who've read it, any thoughts?