5 lies about special education transportation and how you can overcome the lies and get your child back

Are you the parent of a child with autism or a physical disability who receives special education services? Does your child need transportation services? Do you think special education staff are not telling the truth about what the federal special education law (IDEA 2004) says about transportation? This article will discuss 5 lies that are commonly told to parents about transportation. Also, discuss how to overcome these lies to help your child receive needed transportation services.

Lie 1: We can keep your child on the bus as long as we want. Although IDEA 2004 does not address bus trip length, long bus trips can negatively affect a child’s education (causing stress, negative behavior). Bus trips can be discriminatory and can result in a denial of FAPE. Why might a long bus ride be discriminatory? If children with disabilities are on the bus longer than children without disabilities, this could be considered discrimination.

Lie 2: Nobody says we have to provide transportation for your child, and we won’t. Transportation is considered a related service and must be provided to a child if she needs the service in order for her to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).

Lie 3: The director of transportation makes the decisions about whether a child needs transportation, not the IEP team. In an OSEP document titled Questions and Answers About Serving Transportation-Eligible Children with Disabilities, the OSEP states that “The IEP team is responsible for determining whether transportation is required to help a child with a disability benefit from special education and related services…” If your child needs transportation, make sure it is included in your child’s IEP as a related service (if the child does not ride the regular school bus).

Lie 4: The state says we can get your child to school 15 minutes late every day and get them out 15 minutes early because of transportation problems. Ask the school to show you in writing any documentation that shows that she has the right to do what she wants to do. In the example above, you might ask “Please show me in writing where it is stated that our State Department of Education is allowing interruption of education due to transportation issues.”
In fact, the OSEP document above makes it clear that the school day for a child with a disability should not be longer or shorter than the school day for general education students. Since a child would receive less instructional time, this could also be a FAPE denial.

Lie 5: If you want your child to participate in extracurricular activities, you must provide transportation, we are not required to do so. In fact, IDEA 2004 states that a child with a disability has a right to transportation for required after-school activities, as well as for extracurricular activities. Make sure the extracurricular activity is included in your child’s IEP and that it also states that they need transportation to participate in the activity.

How to overcome these transport links?

1. Learn about the transportation requirements in IDEA 2004 (which is the federal special education law). I use the book Special Education Law 2nd edition by Peter and Pam Wright, which is fantastic. This book, as well as much more advocacy information for parents, can be found at: http://www.wrightslaw.com.

2. Call the Parent Training and Information Center (PTIC) in your state for help with advocacy on transportation issues.

3. Bring all of the above information to an IEP meeting to help you advocate.

Good luck in your defense!