The KingSpry law firm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is proud to announce Episode Fifteen of their education law podcast, the Legal Lunch Room, “Bus Business.”
Each episode, we invite education attorneys and school leaders to share how current education law trends and court decisions impact school boards, students and our community.
Those big yellow school buses may seem like a simple part of the school day, but behind the scenes, school transportation is full of big questions about safety, fairness, and the law.
On this episode of the Legal Lunch Room, Jackie Bartek, Assistant to the Executive Director for Student Services from Colonial IU20 and Barbara Hufnagle, Pocono Mountain School District East Transportation liaison joined us for a deep dive into the issues that shape how we get our students to and from school.
“There are so many moving parts in making a school run smoothly,” podcast host Jonathan Huerta says, “People, protocols, plans, practices – it really is kind of a miracle that transportation teams do this each and every day — the planning and preparation that’s needed to make sure our kids get to school safely.”
“Our goal and our priority is to provide safe, effective transportation. We transport about 900 students to over 100 different schools and programs daily. We have about 60 bus routes that cover 1300 square mile area,” Bartek notes. As an intermediate unit, their transportation services are unique, covering a much larger area than a school district, and for students who have often have medical or other special needs
Noting that sometimes discipline issues can arise on the bus, Hufnagle says Pocono has effective procedures based of the age of the child or children involved.
“Younger students will frequently have lunch detention with a principal or someone who will work with them on their behavior. Older students may be removed from the bus or may have specific seating. Sometimes [the driver will] move a student closer to them,” Hufnagle says. “We have also started providing monitors on some of our larger buses, and we also started doing more restorative meetings with the principals, where the entire bus will come in with our team from transportation and the principals at a school and talk about how behavior should be. We’ve had great results with that.”
Education attorney Shorav Kaushik also joins us to discuss legal considerations for bus safety and contracts with private bus companies to address staffing shortages in recent years.
“From a legal standpoint, these contracts cannot be just about price,” Kaushik says. “They’re about safety and risk management. So when it comes to a school district negotiating or renewing these contracts, we recommend that the solicitors are involved, and a thorough review of a contractor’s obligations is conducted.”
Legal Lunch Room is produced by Steel Pixel Studios with music by Don Loughney. This podcast is a production of KingSpry’s Education Law Practice Group. It is meant to be strictly informational and does not constitute legal advice. Should you have any questions about any of the topics discussed on the show, please contact your local legal counsel.
