Rights Abuse Admitted in Bus Shortage

A dispute over lack of bus transportation for handicapped students resurfaced Thursday as the Orange County Board of Education acknowledged, in a 4-0 vote, that last month’s bus shortage violated state civil rights laws.

Also Thursday, the head of a state watchdog agency for handicapped children said some county parents are worried about the safety of temporary buses being used to haul their disabled children to county-provided classes. One parent of handicapped children has filed a complaint that alleges unsafe equipment is being used.

County Department of Education officials, however, said no unsafe buses or equipment are being used.

At issue is a continuing dispute over how the Orange County Department of Education transports about 800 handicapped students to their special-education classes at 21 county sites.

400 Students Stranded

The controversy first erupted Sept. 12, when a bus shortage stranded about 400 of those handicapped students. It took 3 weeks before all students again had regular transportation, but some parents said some temporary buses appear to be unsafe and some buses fail to keep regular hours.

Rhys Burchill, executive director of the state watchdog agency--Area Board XI, Developmental Disabilities--said Thursday she has received complaints about safety from parents of handicapped children who are using temporary buses provided by the Orange County Department of Education.

Roslyn Howard of Fullerton filed a complaint with the state Department of Education on Oct. 20 about one van-bus used to take one of her two handicapped sons to his special-education school. Howard’s complaint said: “Van-buses which are transporting my son are older-model vehicles which are improperly maintained and subject to a variety of malfunctions.”

That complaint has already been investigated by the county Department of Education and not substantiated, said Carol Arnesen, director of the department’s Special Education Unit. Arnesen said the van-bus questioned by Howard had been checked and found safe by the unit’s staff, who had also ascertained that the vehicle had passed a California Highway Patrol safety inspection.

“There is no unsafe bus on any route,” Arnesen said.

State officials, meanwhile, are still looking into an earlier accusation by the state watchdog agency alleging that civil rights laws were violated in September when the county failed to provide buses for the handicapped children. As part of its investigation, the state asked for a report from the county Department of Education on the civil rights allegation.

It was that internal report that came before a regular meeting of the county Board of Education on Thursday. The report said the county department had, indeed, violated the state civil rights law, but only because the bus contractor failed to provide enough vehicles.

By a 4-0 vote, with one member abstaining, the county Board of Education endorsed that report.

Board member Elizabeth Parker said the motion “tried to wash our hands of the responsibility” because it blamed the contractor entirely. She therefore abstained.

Supt. Robert Peterson, who is the elected head of the county Department of Education, said it was necessary to pinpoint the bus company as the cause of the shortage. “It places the responsibility where it ought to rest,” he said.

Peterson and his staff have contended that Durham Transportation Co. deliberately failed to provide buses and drivers to haul handicapped students to county special-education schools.

Durham Blames Department

Larry Durham, president of Durham Transportation Co., blamed the county Department of Education’s failure to pay an annual cost-of-living increase on the 5-year busing contract. Durham said Peterson had refused to negotiate, which Peterson denied.

Parker and county Board of Education member Sheila Meyers have previously accused Peterson and his staff of allowing the busing contract to become a problem. Parker and Meyers accused Peterson of failing to keep the county Board of Education advised.

Peterson told the board Thursday that he had no forewarning that Durham Transportation would cut back on its buses in September. The Department of Education’s staff, he noted, “isn’t clairvoyant.”

Burchill said many handicapped children need to make up class time they lost during the shortage. The county Board of Education said it will have a report by Nov. 17 on how the lost class time is to be made up.