DC News Now: Ongoing busing blunders land DC in court

Mariel Carbone of DC News Now reports on a July 11th court hearing related to 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.

Ongoing issues with student busing have landed the District in court on Thursday after several parents filed a lawsuit, accusing an agency of failing to provide adequate transportation for students with disabilities.

Under federal law, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is required to provide transportation to and from school for students with special needs.

Families, however, said this hasn’t been happening.

They claim buses are often late in picking up their children in the morning, delayed in bringing them home after school or are just canceled altogether. Parents also said some buses show up without the proper safety equipment, like a harness for a wheelchair.

“You’re fearful for what you can do for your child in these moments because you can’t control it. The system is in place to be there for you and when it’s not working it’s very problematic,” said David Clark, whose eight-year-old daughter relies on an OSSE bus.

Clark is one of several parents who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

His daughter was born with severe brain damage, leaving her nonverbal and nonmobile.

“She requires a lot of attention,” explained Clark.

He said late buses in the morning are a frequent issue, but drop-off after school is a problem too.

“School is a five-day-a-week thing. It’s typically three days, maybe more [that the bus is late],” he said. “The late arrival is a big deal. But, on the back end, it’s a problem as well. We’ve gone the length of adding air tags to her bag because the District is just not there.”

Clark was in court Thursday as a judge heard oral arguments in the case.

“Today was the court’s first opportunity to hear directly from the parties,” said Kaitlin Banner, Deputy Legal Director with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee.

Banner and her co-counsel are asking the judge to grant a preliminary injunction, forcing the district and OSSE to address what they call systematic issues within 15 days. They’re also asking for the judge to certify this as a class action lawsuit.

“The things that need to be fixed are systemic, they need to affect everyone,” said Banner. “This is not something where we can say your student needs a different plan to get to school, so we can do it individually. We need to do it for the whole system.”