Buses that pick up students with disabilities in D.C. are sometimes late or never show up at all, don’t provide accommodations and can’t be reliably tracked, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday afternoon.
Parents of students with disabilities and the group The Arc of the United States filed the class action lawsuit against the city’s Office of the State Superintendent for Education. It argues the agency is failing to provide students with disabilities safe and reliable transportation to and from school.
The consequence of that, the lawsuit claims, is denying students equal access to education and keeping them out of class, which results in falling behind in school. The lawsuit was brought under the Individuals With Disabilities in Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the D.C. Human Rights Act.
OSSE said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
“The school buses are showing up late, sometimes by hours. The school buses cancel, sometimes last minute,” said Kaitlin Banner, deputy legal director at the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
“Students are left stranded at school at the end of the day. This is unsafe for students with disabilities, unsafe for any student, and also really denies students access to their education, because if they can’t get to school, they can’t be there to learn.”
Joann McCray, who’s son has autism, said she’s been experiencing bus issues for years. He was an honor roll student, she said, but that’s changing now that the bus has been late. He sometimes misses morning classes.
McCray said she’s contacted the superintendent and mayor’s offices, and when she does get a response, she’s typically directed to the Parent Resource Center.
When her son arrives at school late, it’s usually around lunchtime, McCray said. Sometimes, if the bus takes too long to pick him up, he’ll ask to stay home.
Occasionally, when her son doesn’t get to school on time because of a transportation issue, the disruption in routine has an impact. McCray said he has meltdowns, and the school calls her to calm him down.
“This is just a mess,” McCray said. “It shouldn’t have to be this way when you’re depending on something that should always be available. Raising a kid with special needs is already hard enough.”
Buses are so inconsistent, the lawsuit said, that one 14-year-old student was late to school 90 times during the 2022-23 academic year. Sometimes, it alleges, students spend excessive time on the bus. In one instance, a 13-year-old student with a chromosomal disorder had a soiled diaper by the time they got home.
The buses, according to the lawsuit, don’t have equipment needed for students with disabilities to ride them safely, and they can’t be reliably tracked.
“We have clients who have had to purchase AirTags for their kids so that they can find them,” Banner said.
“In a world where we can all track, when is the Metrobus coming in or when is their Uber Eats order coming in, it’s really frustrating for parents to not be able to have that sort of real time tracking of where buses are.”
The agency said it’s maintaining above 95% on-time route coverage across its 450 daily bus routes, and is using 89 routes offered through a private vendor this year. However, the agency does still have driver vacancies. It’s offering attendance incentives and working to build a pipeline of bus drivers.
D.C., Banner said, was sued for similar issues in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2012, the city presented a transportation plan and data that “convinced the court that they were able to manage the transportation system without that kind of court oversight or intervention, and the court orders against them ended,” she said.
But the issues, Banner said, “haven’t improved. This case is really a last resort option to try to make those changes that we know families need in this city.”
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