Last Sunday I received a call from a parent who indicated that a 50 year old male had showed up to his house to inform him that the next day he would be transporting his daughter to her approved private school in his own car. His daughter is 5 years old, non verbal, legally blind and has limited ambulation. Needless to say, dad had great concerns about placing his daughter in a man’s car that he did know. The car was not equipped with the appropriate safety devices or the ability to transport a wheelchair. What to do on a Sunday afternoon when you are told in 16 hours your daughter will be transported by a stranger to school when you need to be at work the next day and the school district is closed. With our supports the father was able to prevent this potential disaster from occurring. It turned out the reason the school district was due to the lack of ability to recruit staff to transport children by the school district’s transportation department; they contracted with the Intermediate Unit who subcontracted with a transportation provider to provide transportation. Even though this behavior was inappropriate and we believe placed a child with developmental disabilities at severe risk, it clearly was legal. It is very difficult when school districts are making bad decisions for children and those decisions are within the regulations and law. We were pleased that when the Director of Special Education for the school district was informed of the situation realized the absurdity of the situation and did a crisis intervention to prevent this child from being placed at risk.
That is maddness!!!!!