Two years after abusive treatment by caregivers of a severely autistic student on a Bedford County school bus, the state Department of Education said Thursday that it will begin a review of whether the rural county is meeting training standards.
In a brief statement, the department also said it "will place greater emphasis on pupil transportation issues — including the training of school bus drivers and bus aides for special-needs students — when monitoring the commonwealth's 132 school divisions" for compliance with federal and state laws.
The increased attention follows disclosures by the Richmond Times-Dispatch last week about a $20 million suit filed by a Bedford father and his autistic son alleging repeated abusive attacks on the child by a school bus driver and an aide in September 2009.
The attacks were captured on a surveillance camera aboard the bus as it traveled to a school for special-needs children in Lynchburg.
"This is a step in the right direction, but it's a long time coming," said P. Brent Brown, a Roanoke lawyer representing the father and son in the legal action, which also names the school system and a special-needs administrator as defendants.
A spokesman for Bedford schools said the division could not comment on the state department's actions because of the litigation.
But Thursday's announcement appeared to send a signal that the state wants to move quickly to address concerns raised by the suit, criminal action against the two school bus personnel, and allegations in the suit by the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy.
Key elements of the suit allege that Bedford denied the student, Timothy Earl Kilpatrick, now 14, his rights under the Virginians with Disabilities Act and that the school system failed to provide adequate training to the two bus personnel who "restrained him and subjected him to grossly abusive injurious supervision."
The Times-Dispatch asked this week for copies of all training materials completed by the two attendants. The school system has not yet provided those materials.
State law requires training for school personnel, including bus drivers and bus aides, who care for special-needs children, an Education Department spokesman said.
But a study curriculum dealing with nearly a dozen disorders and how to address them consists of only 17 pages, and the suggested time for addressing the issues is listed as "60 minutes." Drivers for special-needs children receive eight hours of behind-the-wheel training in addition to regular training of 48 hours of classroom and driving training.
It was not immediately clear what documentation exists to show that a school bus driver or aide has completed training in dealing with special-needs children.
Legislation introduced last year in the General Assembly setting out specific requirements for transportation personnel relative to handling autistic students failed, but the sponsor, Del. Jimmie Massie, R-Henrico, said he wants to reintroduce the bill in light of the Bedford situation. The bill would require 80 hours of training in handling special-needs students.
The curriculum for drivers and aides stresses that personnel should disregard behaviors that are not a threat to safety. But the Bedford videos show an aide poised with a fly swatter ready to strike Kilpatrick if he acted out, as well as physical assaults on the child using slaps and kicks.
Kilpatrick was tightly bound by harnesses on both shoulders during the attacks.
The two bus personnel, Alice Davis Holland and Mary Alice Evans, were originally charged with felony child abuse, but Lynchburg prosecutors reduced the charges to misdemeanor assault in a November 2009 plea agreement that sent the women to jail for less than a month. Both women left the school system Sept. 30, 2009, according to a school system spokesman.
The state Department of Education said Thursday that it will begin making certain that all school divisions are providing "appropriate training."
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