To Whom It May Concern:

It has once again come to my attention that there is difficulty on the bus. My son, XXXX XXXXXXX, rides this bus from XXXXXXXXXXXXX to the XXXXXX XXXXXX. He rides this bus because he needs the special facilities, teachers and counselors that are available at the XXXXXX School. One of the factors that makes it necessary for him to attend XXXXXX School is severe ADHD. For this reason, it is difficult for him to ride the bus and this was made clear when the original decision was made to have him attend school out of district.

We were assured that the bus would have an aide at all times. We were also assured that this aide would be attentive to XXXX’s needs and assist him in being able to successfully ride the bus. XXXX has been both verbally and physically abused on this bus by the other students. What is worse is that XXXX is verbally attacked daily by the aide.

I realize that this is a difficult job to fill and that finding trained persons must be a problem. However, that is no reason for an untrained, unintelligible, belligerent aide who openly dislikes the students that she is there to protect and support. She has on numerous occasions complained that XXXX does not show her the proper respect. I assert that it is unlikely that he will learn to show respect for someone who so openly disrespects him and does not protect him from situations on the bus, instead placing the blame squarely on him for all disruptive behavior. I would like to know what training this aide has to supervise emotionally disturbed children? It is understood that these are the children that will be riding this bus because of the school that they attend, so I believe that a trained aide should be required and not just a warm body being paid minimum wage to read a newspaper and yell at children.

I understand that at times XXX can be difficult on the bus. However, as I mentioned before, it is his inability to succeed in managing his ADHD for the duration of this ride that necessitates this bus ride in the first place.

It has come to my attention that there is, once again, a new bus driver. This will be the third or fourth bus driver this year. Change is extremely difficult for these children as is instability. This particular driver has on occasion been over an hour late, not shown up at all, become lost and relied on the children for directions and as recently as last week, driven so poorly that she knocked the side view mirror off the bus by colliding into a tree.

She beeped, loudly, rudely and repeatedly, in front of my house this morning at 7:45am. She then told me that XXXX had thrown papers on the bus yesterday and it was this behavior that caused her to knock the mirror off the bus last week. She also stated that it was her bus and if he didn’t start showing more respect she would kick him off. I agree, that children should show respect for authority figures, but as I have pointed out, it is obvious that the children on this bus recognize that these people are not deserving of any respect. This bus driver is asserting that she cannot control the bus if there is a distraction? Yes, they should be seated, safely and quietly, and the aide should assure this. But if one child tosses a paper at another child, then I would argue that she should either pull over or be able to control the vehicle.

XXXX will be spoken to about his behavior. However, I will not tolerate the driver or the aide allowing XXXX to be hurt by other children, for him to have gum put in his hair, for other children to taunt him, while nothing is done. I will not tolerate a belligerent, disrespectful and untrained aide on a special needs bus and I will not tolerate threats from a bus driver who obviously is incapable of doing her job.

This has been an ongoing problem and it is obvious that they are going to continue to blame XXXX for all that goes wrong on the bus. How can he succeed in a situation where he has already been set up to fail? How can he feel safe in a situation where he will be blamed even when other children harm him? Who is he to look to for help during this trip?

The township has a responsibility to provide safe transportation for my son. In the case of an emotionally disturbed student I interpret this to mean that he will not suffer from emotional or verbal abuse as well. I expect that in the case of a special needs child, on a special needs bus, it is assumed that difficulties may arise and the adults on this bus would show the training, patience and skill needed to attend to the children who are in their care.

I would appreciate your attention on this matter as it has been a constant stress throughout the year. I would also like documentation on the training of the aide.

Thank you for your time in this matter. The safety of my son is of great importance to me.

Sincerely,
Really Pissed Off Mom