SPECIAL
PARENT
School Bus Safety
WRITTEN BY NICHOLAS KATZBAN AND CURTIS TATE
ince a school bus crash on
Route 80 ended the lives of
a Paramus fifth-grader and
one of her teachers in May,
a litany of bills from federal
and state lawmakers focus-
ing on driving records and physical
fitness have been proposed.
But those bills, some of which focus
on notification systems for suspended
licenses or seat belt use, do little to
address gaps in oversight and regula-
tion of private school bus fleets, an
investigation by the USA Today Network
New Jersey has found.
That has left an already vulnerable
population — special needs students
— at risk.
Special needs students are often
bused from their home school system
to a district that has programs better
suited to their educational needs. And a
variety of third-party busing providers,
from small to large, are used across the
state to transport students out of their
home districts.
“Some bus companies are very big
and have all kinds of technology,” says
Kim Cristo of Waldwick, whose daugh-
ter attends a special needs program in
another district. “Some are just run out
of a house and are sort of a one-man
band.”
Among the problems plaguing
transportation for these students are a
nationwide shortage of drivers, low pay
and a practice of accepting the “lowest
acceptable bid” for the third-party com-
panies typically hired for these routes.
In addition, the background check
system — from the state agencies that
conduct them down to the school
districts that do the hiring — can leave
parents of special needs students in the
dark about who is driving their children.
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HOLIDAY 2018 | (201) FAMILY
WHOM ARE WE TRUSTING?
Bus drivers and aides are required
to submit a criminal background check
that is conducted by independent bus
operators or the school districts they are
contracted to serve, says Michael Yaple,
a spokesman for the state Department
of Education.
However, it’s common practice for
school districts to trust the bus compa-
nies that will be transporting special
needs students when they say all drivers
and aides have been cleared by state
authorities.
“They sign in their contract that they
are responsible for making sure,” says
Kathy Vuoncino, a director for special
education transportation in the
Northern Valley regional high schools.
“That’s been the trust factor that we
have. We’re not liable for that.”
But research suggests that only
50 to 80 percent of commercial drivers
nationwide self-report their convictions
and traffic violations, according to a
report from the American Association
of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Tech-
nically, drivers are required to report
a violation to their employer within
one day of its occurrence. If they don’t,
it could be up to a year before their
employer is notified by the respective
motor vehicle agency.
“Parents aren’t given info on who is
driving the bus,” Cristo says. “All that
info is on the contract, but we’re not
given access to that contract.”
When Cristo sought a copy of the
contract awarded to her daughter’s
bus company by filing a public records
request with the Waldwick school
district, she was simply told to contact
Mahwah.
“I didn’t know if they meant the
district or the region,” she says.
“The letter was very nebulous.” ●
S
SPECIAL NEEDS PARENTS SAY GAPS IN SYSTEM PUT THEIR CHILDREN AT RISK