ABC7: Unreliable school buses leave DC parents frustrated with few good options
John Barr of ABC7 spotlights a morning with Marcia Cannon-Clark, who, along with her husband David Clark, are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against DC’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education regarding the District’s failure to provide safe, reliable, and effective transportation to and from school for students with disabilities.
“This is real life playing out right here and now where they just don’t show up. We have no idea what’s going on, and we have to roll with some ad hoc Plan B or Plan C,” Marcia Cannon-Clark said.
“What we see here this morning is one of the key reasons why we filed this lawsuit,” said Kathy Zeisel an attorney with Children’s Law Center, who is present in the Clark’s home that morning.
Zeisel represents the Clarks and some 4,000 district parents, who rely upon the OSSE-DOT bus service.
“Children deserve safe, reliable and appropriate transportation so they can go to school and get their education,” Zeisel said.
The District is Failing to Provide Transportation for Students with Disabilities
Parents and guardians of children with disabilities living in the District of Columbia, along with The Arc of the United States, filed a class action lawsuit on March 7, 2024 against DC’s Office of the State Superintendent for Education for failing to provide safe, reliable and effective transportation to and from schools for children with disabilities, thereby denying students equal access to their education and unnecessarily segregating them from their peers.