Why is There Litigation in School Transportation ?
Lessons from the Experts
By Linda F . Bluth , Ed . D
School districts are regularly assigned responsibility for transporting our nation ’ s school-age children with and without disabilities to and from school , utilizing school district vehicles and personnel , and / or approved contractor vehicles and personnel . Regardless of the service delivery model selected , it is reasonable to scrutinize if school transportation safety practices are given the attention required to provide a safe ride and to prevent child passenger injury and harm . From my years of experience serving as a school transportation expert witness and consultant , I am convinced that school bus safety practices do not always meet the standards recommended by school transportation industry leaders . Therefore , the possibility of unforeseen school district litigation has increased as a result of misjudging potential liability . Since 1979 , I have served as an expert witness and consultant in over 30 school transportation litigation cases involving children with disabilities . All of these litigation cases represent childspecific catastrophic results . While litigation trends may have changed somewhat over the past three decades , there is a common recurring theme of negligence and gross negligence . Carelessness and inattention to school transportation safety practices is unrecognized by too many school districts . From my years of experience as an expert witness and consultant , failures exist in implementing up-to-date transportation written policies and procedures , negligently hiring drivers and attendants , poorly training drivers and attendants , ineffective in-service training conducted by knowledgeable personnel , and an overwhelming failure to communicate imperative child-specific information which is essential to provide safe transportation .
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ( FERPA ), administered by the United States Department of Education , allows for the sharing of permissible information . It is lawful to disclose information to eligible parties that include school district personnel , contractors , and other parties when outsourcing of services and functions takes place . Understanding FERPA , as it pertains to school transportation , is key to implementing safe transportation . Regrettably , my expert witness work has exposed the fact that knowledge about FERPA is a significant area of deficiency and school district misunderstanding – contributing to negligence and gross negligence . It is absolutely necessary for school districts to better understand the FERPA requirements . School bus operation safety – on and off the road – including vehicle and equipment maintenance , appropriate hiring practices and personnel training , epitomize areas of repetitive negligence and gross negligence . It is my strong opinion that due diligence to ensure safe transportation to prevent child harm is often unaccounted for and only becomes recognizable when litigation is apparent and pending . While our country is frequently criticized for being a “ litigious society ,” there is no excuse for any failure to overlook child passenger safety . Transporting children is a mammoth responsibility and obligation . Persistently I ask myself if school district superintendents , leadership teams and school boards are sufficiently knowledgeable about their responsibility to provide “ a duty of care ” for children under their supervision during transportation . It is essential that school district leadership and staff fully understand their individual duty of care responsibilities under state or local laws . Duty of care can be defined as “ a requirement that a person act toward others and the public with
30 | SCHOOL-BUSRIDE . COM | AUGUST 2021