Elkins School District faces suit over bus driver incident

Elkins School District faces suit over bus driver incident BY SCOTT F. DAVIS Northwest Arkansas Times

The Elkins School District and Superintendent Robert Allen face a federal lawsuit involving an incident in which a school bus driver reprimanded a special-needs elementary school student last year.

Crystal Kirk, the student's parent, filed the suit Feb. 20, seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the district and Allen for failing "to create and implement a policy and practice of properly training bus personnel and employees to protect (her son )."

Kirk, who now lives in Washburn, Mo., filed the suit pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Her son has Asperger's disorder, a milder form of autism, according to the complaint. The child attended the school from September 2005 to May 2007. Kirk was enrolled in graduate school at the University of Arkansas. She claims school officials agreed on Jan. 31, 2007, to provide her son with specialized transportation but did not. Her son was traumatized over a Feb. 21, 2007, incident and he refused to ride the bus again with the same driver, the suit alleges.

Bus driver convicted Brenda Jones, a bus driver for the district, was convicted on June 5 of a misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment for the Feb. 21 incident. She was fined $ 100 and the judge suspended imposition of sentence, which means the conviction will not go on Jones' record if she stays out of trouble for one year.

Jones was also charged with disorderly conduct, but she was found not guilty of that charge at the bench trial in Elkins District Court before Judge Ray Reynolds.

Jones decided not to appeal her case because of the suspended imposition of sentence, said Tonya Patrick, her attorney in the case. The school board renewed Jones' contact even before the case went to court, Patrick said.

Patrick is surprised her client was convicted in this case. "It was an odd deal," Patrick said. "I was really surprised."

Bus incident Jones reportedly gave the student a harsh lecture for misbehaving on the bus on Feb. 21, 2007. The incident was captured by a surveillance camera. The tape showed that her discussion with the student lasted about a minute. The camera footage showed the special needs student had been pointing his finger and yelling at two other students who were sitting across the aisle. This student was preparing to leave the bus and Jones pulled him aside near the driver's seat to talk to him.

Initially, Jones held the boy by his left arm, told him not to yell at others on the bus and threatened him with not being able to ride the bus anymore. When she asked him if he understood, he yelled," Yes ! "back to her.

At that point, she raised her voice louder, telling him," You do not yell at me. Do you understand ?"

The superintendent and the bus drivers' supervisor both testified that it was within her authority to stop, detain and discipline a student who was misbehaving on the bus, Patrick said. Allen testified that it is common practice for a bus driver to grab a student's arm, she said. After leaving the bus, the student hid under a tree until he was coaxed out by his mother. He tried to cover himself in mud and told his mother that is where he belonged, the suit claims.

Special needs The student was diagnosed in April 2006 with attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD ), developmental motor coordination disorder, developmental language disorder and Asperger's disorder, the lawsuit states. The school developed an Individual Educational Plan to obtain a "meaningful educational benefit"and "child progress"in the least restrictive environment given the student's special needs, according to the suit.

The student's initial plan reportedly recommended that he receive special education in the areas of reading, written expression, pragmatics and occupational therapy and also receive school counseling.

The plan noted that the student had "difficulty with social interactions"and that he fixates on certain topics and that he "requires intense support to stay in task," the complaint states.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires identification of all disabled students and the provision of appropriate special education services, including transportation benefits as necessary for the child's progress, the suit states.

On May 11, 2006, other students cut in front of the special-needs student on the school bus. The complaint alleges that the special needs student reacted by screaming at the other students and then hitting another student.

On Sept. 27, 2006, the special-needs student created a disturbance on the bus by hitting and poking another child. The suit alleges the incident happened because other children teased the special-needs student until he started crying.

Parties to this suit either could not be reached for comment or would not comment. Allen was out of the office for spring break and could not be reached for comment. Bryan Delozier, school board president, declined comment on pending litigation. Kirk does not have a listed phone number and her attorney did not comment.

I predict that, before the end of the year, there will be a case identical to this one, except that the driver will also claim some trendy developmental disorder, and both parties will sue the school district for failing to accomodate their disability.

Lawyers win, taxpayers lose. The game is fixed.

Crystal Kirk, the student’s parent,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

So?...Where’s the dad?

Is this the wonderful abuse ( oops! “socialization”) that homeschoolers are missing?

I’m sure the poor man has a disability that prevents him from taking responsibility for his family.

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