New York Student with Disabilities Removed from School Bus Service

October 17, 2024

A student with autism was allegedly refused transportation to and from school after videos of a bus aide hitting the student were discovered, causing the girl to miss two days of school a week, reported Times Union.

The student’s mother, Felecia Powers, is filing a lawsuit against the Lansingburgh Central School District, located north of Albany, New York, contractor First Student, the bus driver, and the aide after reporting concerns for her daughter’s wellbeing onboard the bus. The 16-year-old student reportedly attends a day school in Massachusetts that requires a 70-minute bus ride each way. Powers told news sources that her daughter has a mental age of 1 1/2 to 2 years old and wears a five-point harness in her bus seat.

Officials reportedly found footage from January showing a bus aide hitting the student twice, while she was strapped in her seat. The aide claimed the student struck her first.

Powers met with a new bus driver and aide who were assigned to her daughter’s route, but she told local news that she didn’t feel confident that the behavior would not be repeated and expressed renewed concern for her daughter’s safety.

Following the lawsuit filed by Powers, First Student stopped taking the student to school. Powers reportedly drove her daughter for the remainder of the school year, and Lansingburgh CSD provided a different bus company for the summer.

The superintendent for Lansingburgh, Dr. Antonio Abitabile, reportedly did not know First Student would no longer be transporting the student until a week before the start of the current school year. But he stated that the district is working with First Student to resume bus service. The district has also reached out to other bus companies in the area but has not yet found transportation for the student as of this report.

Powers’ attorney told local news that the district’s attorney has communicated that they are aware it is the district’s responsibility to provide transportation but still working on it. The news report said that Powers is currently driving her daughter to school on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. She works the other two days of the week. She says her daughter wants to be in school and that she is frustrated by the delay in transportation service.