ABC7: Nearly 4,000 children included in lawsuit against DC over reliable school buses

Phylicia Ashley of ABC7 continues reporting on a lawsuit filed against DC’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education for failing to provide safe, reliable, and effective transportation to and from school for students with disabilities. Recent coverage a result of class certification status determined by federal judge.

A federal judge ruled that a lawsuit against D.C. filed by parents can move forward.

It accuses the Office of the State Superintendent of Education of failing to provide safe and reliable school buses for children with disabilities.

Kathy Zeisel represents the families. “There was a lawsuit from 1996 until 2012 to try to fix the system, but this is the first lawsuit since then to try to fix the whole system,” she said.

Zeisel said the individual fixes the District has made in the past don’t always last, and at times, the required medical assistance isn’t available.

“We only provide transportation to about 4,000 of the 100,000 kids in the District. It’s a pretty small group of kids we’re talking about, but a really important group of kids,” Zeisel said. “With some of the kids with the most significant disabilities who are not getting an education because we can’t get them to school.”