ADVICE NEEDED for Special Mom #psnm00553 My son is in 1st grade and has classic ASD but is high functioning. We live next door to one of the schools in our district (not the school my son attends) and there is a shuttle bus that students can take than runs between each school. Several kids in our neighborhood ride this bus and I requested that my son be allowed to do the same. He doesnt need one-on-one assistance or any special restraints to ride the bus and actually rode the regular bus for summer school. He *does* need someone on the bus to make sure he gets off when he is supposed to, though. For this reason, the district elected to put him on the special needs bus and wrote it into his IEP. The bus company has been having issues with the special needs bus since the beginning of the school year and we are the last stop and the last drop off on the route. They have been picking my son up an average of 15 minutes late every single day and, because we are the last stop on the route, this means he has been late to school nearly every day. His aides are reporting that he isnt finishing his morning work because he gets to school so late. He misses the morning check in and announcements and usually arrives after his class has already started their reading unit. I have called the dean of student affairs, my sons special ed liaison, the school principal, his teacher, and the bus company repeatedly but the situation has not improved. Ive noticed that our route has had several different drivers and my conversation with the bus company this morning confirmed that they have been using subs since day one. I suppose this explains why they never seem to come at the same time. Some mornings, they are here 5 minutes late. Other mornings, they are 25 minutes late. Today, I finally gave up waiting for them at 8:10 (my sons school day begins at 8:05) and the bus pulled up in front of my house as we were driving away in my car. Needless to say, I am extremely frustrated and dont know what to do now. I could easily just stick my kid in the car and drive him myself every day. But it will make me angry every day to see that shuttle bus stop next door to my house and know that EVERY normal kid in our neighborhood has the opportunity to ride the district shuttle for free while I have to drive my child because the bus company and district dont care enough about him to get him to school on time. Certainly we have the legal right to equal access to services and this one seems like a no-brainer. But I have been fighting with the school about this for almost a month now and, frankly, Im exhausted. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 15:12:02 +0000
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