It did not grab national headlines when a preschooler arrived home from school so lethargic and dehydrated he had to be carried from his bus to his doorstep, but it gripped his mother’s heart.
“He was soaking wet and in distress, and the staff was also in distress,” Darcy Cotton told 23 ABC in Bakersfield, Calif., describing her autistic son’s condition after a 40-minute bus ride in triple-digit temperatures.
School bus operators from the Southwest to the Southern states may have air conditioning on their “Most Wanted” list but recognize that wants are different than needs. Many districts can only afford air-conditioned buses for students with special needs who have this specific requirement in their individualized education program (IEP).
Dr. Linda Bluth, retired education program specialist with the Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services at Maryland State Department of Education, told STN that cases like the dehydrated California student are “too common” because many IEP teams don’t consider the need for air conditioning on school buses. It boils down to a lack of training, said Bluth, who has advised school districts and families on this issue.
Bluth noted the issue is front and center for two reasons: The climate has been getting hotter, and there are more children who are “medically fragile” on buses.
There are also more special needs students with extended school years, she added, and when districts can’t afford to keep buildings open, they send kids to schools that are often farther away.
While awareness is rising on the importance of A/C, Bluth said school administrators should ask certain questions at a child’s IEP meeting and include qualified personnel in decision-making.
“If a child is in a school building that is air-conditioned, you should consider the school bus an extension of the school day and ask: Does this child need air conditioning?” she said. “Does the disability have any impact on the child’s ability to ride safely in a non-climate-controlled vehicle? What policy and practices do you have in place when the A/C is not working on the bus?”
WHEN HEAT POSES A THREAT
Susan Hamre, who has a private practice while also serving as speech language pathologist at Giant Steps near Chicago, trains student transporters on how to interact effectively with autistic students. Hamre stressed that heat impacts on students with special needs can be far more debilitating than for neurotypical children.
“These kids actually have inner cores that get overheated, and there’s not anything they can do about it — and they don’t necessarily have the language or the ability to communicate how they’re feeling,” said Hamre, who led two STN EXPO workshops last month, including “Making Transportation More Autism Friendly.”
“Many children with autism have sensory issues that can make them have significant meltdowns and become dysregulated (mood swings) if their environment is too hot or too cold. It makes the bus ride harder on the child, the other kids, the bus monitor and driver,” she continued.
Hamre questioned whether it’s safe for regular-education students, aides and drivers to travel in non-climate-controlled buses in sweltering regions like the South.
“I’m just amazed the buses aren’t air-conditioned in Southern climates where you can have four to five months of hot, humid weather,” she exclaimed. “What about the fatigue of the driver and monitor? It just doesn’t seem safe.”
Cheyne Rauber, general manager at Rifled Air Conditioning Systems, said the trend for buying A/C buses usually begins in the special needs market, but then those customers recognize the need for air conditioning for regular routes as well.
“School bus operators are constantly being required to do more with less — and this means longer routes, increased rider times, etc., during the hot summer months that can drain the energy out of any student,” Rauber continued. “Another big factor is driver satisfaction.”
COOLING DOWN MORE ROUTES
Rauber estimated about 35 percent of new school buses are ordered with air conditioning, which can increase the bus price by 10 to 15 percent. The St. Landry Parish School Board in central Louisiana recently voted to spend $2.5 million for 35 new yellow buses, yet only one with air conditioning. Two board members dissented after arguing for all the buses to have air conditioning, which would have added $225,000 to the total cost.
For the first time in its history, the Ocean Springs School District in Mississippi took delivery of A/C school buses for regular routes. In June the school board approved the purchase of three A/C buses and set a long-term goal of replacing the whole fleet with such buses.
Transportation Supervisor Tim Weimer said he had a tough decision to make about which routes would get the cooler ride. “It’s going to have its plus and minuses. Everybody is going to be fighting for the few air-conditioned buses — and the ones who do get it are never going to want to give it up,” he said.
Officials at the Alabaster City School System near Birmingham, Ala., also committed to an all-air-conditioned bus fleet in the future. Transportation Supervisor Jeff Nichols said the district is purchasing five A/C buses for regular routes, and the superintendent is “adamant” that all new buses will have this feature.
“There is more of a cost, but we feel like our students are worth it. We start (school) in early August, and it’s hot both mornings and afternoons, especially on our field trips,” Nichols shared.
He recalled how excited his bus drivers were last summer when they learned they’d be getting air conditioning.
“It gets extremely hot on those buses. Some of those buses go to three different schools. When that bus is not moving for five minutesat a time, it gets stifling hot inside,” added Nichols. “We feel like it’s really going to help not just the kids, but the driver also.”
