WTOP: How DC is planning to improve school transportation for students with disabilities

Scott Gelman of WTOP 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 based on a July 23rd court hearing.

In an 11-page court filing, OSSE said it plans to spend over $10 million on private transportation. The city also plans to buy a new system that it expects will lead to improved routing, and will get GPS tracking for buses.

The plan comes about two weeks after a judge ruled that the city had to turn over its transportation plan for the fall.

“We’re really happy that new resources have been directed toward transportation, because we clearly believe that that’s necessary,” said Kathy Zeisel, director of special legal projects at Children’s Law Center. “We’re hopeful that the District will make efforts to continue to improve transportation and to do what they’re saying in this plan.”

As part of the filing, the city said it’s planning to open a new terminal, which will enable buses to leave from different parts of D.C. It’s also working to hire more bus drivers and work with schools to improve routing and logistics.

Despite the details laid out in the court filing, Zeisel said the group is “going to be keeping a close eye on whether everything here does enough to fix transportation, because we have concerns about whether this is really enough to fix it.”

In a hearing scheduled for September, Zeisel said the city will provide an update on the impact the changes had throughout the first week of school.

“What this case is about is getting kids to school and getting them to be in their seats and learning on time every day,” Zeisel said.