Re: update on bus driver issue

[Guest guest]

Hi Miriam,

I am just forwarding you a news story from another list serve I belong to, you would think the people they hire for special ed bus would not be a bunch of idiots.

How did your meeting go?

Dawn

2a. bus driver and an aide who were aboard one of Hazleton Area's specia Posted by: "specialeducationiep" asearchers@... specialeducationiep Date: Thu May 20, 2010 7:33 am ((PDT))bus driver and an aide who were aboard one of Hazleton Area's special education bus routes were terminated following an incident Tuesday when a student was allegedly handed a piece of tape to place over their mouth after being told to remain quiet, Superintendent Sam Marolo said.The driver and aide, who were not identified, were terminated by Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18 on Wednesday, a day after a student who is enrolled in Hazleton Area's special education programs reported the alleged incident to a teacher, Marolo said.Chiverella Bus Co. contracts with the intermediate unit and handles Hazleton Area's special education routes.According to Marolo, a secondary student took the tape and placed it over his/her own mouth. Marolo said did not say which employee handed out the tape, but said both were dismissed."We investigated (Wednesday morning)," Marolo said. "We want to let people know this will not be tolerated."Carol Chiverella of Chiverella Bus Co. said she didn't learn of the incident until Wednesday morning. She confirmed the terminations."The investigation is not over yet," she said. "No charges will be filed."Marolo said the alleged incident occurred after school on Tuesday. He commended Transportation Director Fred no for a quick response.Jim Gambini, director of transportation for Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18, could not be reached for comment

[Guest guest]

Sorry all,

I wanted to send this to Miriam's email and not to the whole group. It has been one of those mornings already.

Thanks,

Dawn

[Guest guest]

I love it when an adult is being " abused " by the special ed student.

Ugh. Ask for inservicing for the bus driver to learn more about AS.

Did you request a meeting with the director of sped to work out an

alternate bus plan?

Roxanna

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

( ) update on bus driver issue

I'm not putting back on the bus until they get another driver or

educate the current one. He's upsetting more and more. can be

a bit blunt sometimes and they're taking it as him being verbally

abusive but doesn't see it that way. It is an asperger thing.

Totally an asperger thing. This is a special ed bus, they should get

it. Fortunately, hasn't hit anyone. He's only spoken his mind.

I'll drive him every day if I have to but it will be overwhelming.

Miriam

[Guest guest]

We had a big meeting involving the vice principal, the guidance counselor, the

special ed teacher who works with my son, the head of transportation for the

district, the supervisor for the drivers, the driver and the bus monitor. We

spent a good long time educating the driver. Everyone was quite diplomatic

about it, which was good because if the driver really wants to learn then this

should be encouraged. Both the driver and the monitor seems very interested in

what I had to say and had a great bus experience to and from school on

Friday. I will be talking to the driver every day, probably twice a day, to

make sure I know about issues as soon as they happen. If the driver had been

nasty or belligerant I'd have fought for something different, but he really did

seem interested. He's never had a kid like on his bus before and there are

two kids on the bus who are much lower functioning than so it's hard to get

what his issues are. I think it's better to educate along the way if it's

possible. The fact that the driver WANTS me to come to the bus is a positive

sign. He has nothing to hide and now he knows that if says something

really odd, and believe me he does, then the driver knows to ask questions and

ask for help if he's not sure what to do. can be hard to understand. His

comments can be perplexing. He gets a script in his head and uses the words

from it even if they're not the best words. " It would be in your best interest

to turn off the music " is not a nice way to ask the driver to turn off the music

but didn't KNOW that. Now he does and I bet he won't do it again.

Special ed bus drivers really SHOULD know what they're doing, but there are

positives in the mistakes. I learned that can handle these things without

hitting people. learned about phrases he was using that make people feel

bad. It's a win-win situation in the end.

Miriam

>

>

> I love it when an adult is being " abused " by the special ed student.

> Ugh. Ask for inservicing for the bus driver to learn more about AS.

> Did you request a meeting with the director of sped to work out an

> alternate bus plan?

>

> Roxanna

> Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

>

>

> ( ) update on bus driver issue

>

>

>

>

>

> I'm not putting back on the bus until they get another driver or

> educate the current one. He's upsetting more and more. can be

> a bit blunt sometimes and they're taking it as him being verbally

> abusive but doesn't see it that way. It is an asperger thing.

> Totally an asperger thing. This is a special ed bus, they should get

> it. Fortunately, hasn't hit anyone. He's only spoken his mind.

> I'll drive him every day if I have to but it will be overwhelming.

>

> Miriam

>