Apollo mother wants aide to ride school bus with daughter
Friday, February 13, 2004 (22:20:54)

Posted by Sylvia

Pittsburgh Live 10/02/2004

By Liz Hayes

Most kindergartners see big yellow school buses as rolling playgrounds. The trip to and from school offers youngsters the chance to interact with classmates they have limited time to play with during school hours.

Six-year-old Alexa Gourley is little different.

The kindergartner, an Apollo-Ridge School District student, often takes advantage of her relatively unstructured trip home by climbing over the seats and playing with other children.

However, her parents fear there are some differences between Alexa and other students that make the bus trip more hazardous.

Alexa was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and disruptive behavior disorder, according to her mother, Suzanne Gourley. Alexa also has mild learning delays.

Gourley said her daughter takes several medications such as Ritalin to control her behavior, but the drugs often wear off by the end of the school day.

"She functions best under very structured conditions," Gourley said. "She's usually fine on the ride to school, but the ride home is another story."

Gourley said Alexa has received at least five bus misconduct reports since the beginning of the school year. Her bus driver reported her for standing up on the bus, crawling over and under the seats and hitting another student in the face with her book bag.

Since returning from winter break, Alexa once came home with a welt on her face and said a "big boy" hit her on the bus, Gourley said.

Then, about two weeks ago, Alexa was allowed to board the wrong bus and Gourley said the district couldn't tell her where her daughter was for more than an hour.

Gourley said the school district twice sent letters home threatening to suspend Alexa's bus privileges.

Apollo-Ridge Superintendent Michael Vranesevic said he wasn't familiar with Alexa's situation and couldn't talk about the incidents due to student confidentiality laws.

After each incident, Gourley said she called elementary Assistant Principal Robin Barber and explained Alexa's behavioral problems.

Gourley requested Alexa ride a bus with her older brother, which is a small van for special needs children that Gourley said has available seats. The two children go to the same school at the same time.

However, Gourley said that since Alexa hadn't been evaluated for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) she could not ride the smaller van. IEPs are required for gifted or handicapped children that need special help in school.

Gourley then asked that an aide to be assigned to her daughter to supervise her on the bus.

At a November meeting with school officials and child advocates, Gourley said it was agreed an aide would be assigned to the school bus. But, a few days later, Barber called Gourley and allegedly told her an aide wasn't possible because Alexa did not have an IEP.

Vranesevic would not verify whether an IEP is required before a bus aide can be assigned.

"Every situation is different," he said. "It depends on the child and the environment."

He said he couldn't discuss what criteria the district uses to assign aides.

A spokesman from the state Department of Education did not return calls for comment, but the department's Web site stated a school district must provide transportation for exceptional children as described in an IEP.

Psychiatrist: 'Provide an aide'

Gourley requested Alexa be evaluated for an IEP in November, which she said the district must complete with within 60 school days. She also asked Alexa's psychiatrist, Dr. Mahendra Patil from the Family Counseling Center of Armstrong County, to weigh in.

Patil wrote a letter to the district in December: "It is reported that Alexa is increasingly disruptive on (the) school bus. In the process, she is causing concern for the safety of self and others. Therefore, it is recommended that Alexa be provided an aide on (the) school bus to provide supervision and to prevent disruption by Alexa."

Gourley said the district replied to Patil by writing that Alexa was no more disruptive than other kindergarteners.

"How can they say that after all the letters they sent me?" Gourley questioned. "Their reports that Alexa was disruptive is what started all this."

Until the reports for Alexa's IEP evaluation are completed, Gourley is keeping her fingers crossed that nothing serious happens to Alexa or other students.

She said Barber told her video cameras would be installed on the bus to watch Alexa, but she hasn't heard from the district since Alexa rode the wrong bus home and doesn't know if the cameras were installed.

Plus, Gourley said there's no certainty the district will recommend a bus aide in the IEP.

A similar situation at Burrell

Gourley faces a dilemma a New Kensington woman has battled for almost two years.

Lisa Hockenberry's son went to Burrell School District last year and she requested a bus aide for Brian, who has Down syndrome.

When the district denied her request, Hockenberry began circulating petitions locally that would make it state law for school districts to provide aides on all buses transporting children with disabilities.

Hockenberry now lives in New Kensington, but her son still attends special needs classes at Burrell. She said Brian, now 7, still does not have an aide, but she's more comfortable with the situation this year because he rides a small van rather than a regular-sized school bus.

Hockenberry said physicians, rather than administrators, should determine whether students need school bus aides.

"The school looks at cost," Hockenberry said. "The physician looks at patients."

About the same time Hockenberry began circulating her petition, several state senators drafted a bill that would require an aide on district or intermediate unit buses that transport students designated exceptional children.

Senate Bill 578, also known as Cindy's Law, was proposed after a girl in eastern Pennsylvania died when she tangled herself up in a seat belt and strangled herself, according to Paula Fogarty, an aide for bill sponsor state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery.

Fogarty said the girl was not supervised on the bus.

The bill, whose only local co-sponsor is Sen. Jack Wagner, D-Pittsburgh, was introduced in April and since was referred to the education committee. Fogarty did not know when the bill could come to a vote.