Private School Parents: Don't Miss the Bus!

New York parents whose children will be attending private schools next September need to be mindful of the April 1st deadline for requesting free bus transportation for their student. Check with your school district for the form to file, but be sure to get it in within the next week. In fact, we missed the New Jersey deadline for bus requests, which was March 10th.  New Jersey parents who want to plan ahead for next year can look at the New Jersey Department of Education website dealing with bus transportation for details and forms. Wherever you live, make sure you are aware of the deadline in your state.

In New York, private school transportation is limited to schools within 15 miles from a student's residence. Other states have different limits, which are usually greater in areas where longer travel distances tend to be the norm.

As we have noted in past blogs, different rules apply to students who have IEPs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Where an IEP specifies that a student is to receive bus service, standard deadlines and distance requirements do not apply. However, there are general limits on distance (50 miles in New York State) which will only be waived in special circumstances.

Transportation is considered a "related service" in an IEP or a 504 Plan. Bus service is not automatically provided for students who receive services or accommodations under either of these two laws. The determination as to whether or what kind of bus service is needed depends upon the circumstances of each student. A student with a reading disorder who has an IEP and attends her local school will generally not need or receive bus services other than those provided to all students. A student with an orthopedic or visual disability will.

A student who will be attending a private special education school within 50 miles of his or her home is generally provided with door to door bus service whether or not the student has a physical or mental condition which might necessitate such transportation. Additional aspects of bus service, including whether there is a paraprofessional on the bus, or a one-on-one aide for a particular student, depend on the student's needs as set forth in their IEP.

Bus service for students with IEPs does not depend on whether the student was enrolled by his or her parents or whether the student was placed in a special education school by their district. But families should keep in mind that it is the district in which the school is located, rather than the district in which they reside, that is responsible for the IEP.  For parents who reside outside of New York City, for example, and who privately place their child in a special education school within the New York City limits, it is not the suburban district, but the New York City Department of Education that would develop an IEP to provide transportation.

Photo credit: redjar via flickr cc

Meaningful Transportation Services

As New York City parents contemplate plans for getting their children to school in the face of a threatened strike by school bus drivers -- who transport 152,000 of the City's school children along 7,700 routes daily -- we thought it might be a good time to revisit transportation to and from school.

For students who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), transportation is considered a "related service", like physical or occupational therapy or counseling. For a student to receive transportation other than that which is provided to all students in the district (whether that is a bus pass, a Metrocard, or some other entitlement to free or discounted public transportation) transportation must be included in that student's IEP.

The regulations that implement the IDEA note that,
It is assumed that most children with disabilities will receive the same transportation provided to nondisabled children, unless the IEP team determines otherwise.... If the IEP team determines that a disabled child requires transportation as a related service in order to receive FAPE, [a Free Appropriate Public Education, the core requirement for students classified under the IDEA] or requires accommodations or modifications to participate in integrated transportation with nondisabled children, the child must receive the necessary transportation or accommodations at no cost to the parents. This is so, even if no transportation is provided to nondisabled children.(U.S. Department of Education, 1999a, p. 12551)

There are two other kinds of transportation services which are far less common than busing, but which can provide crucial assistance for some students. One is Orientation and Mobility Services which are available only  to students with visual impairments. The other is Travel Training, which is defined by the Regulations to the IDEA as: "providing instruction, as appropriate, to children with significant cognitive disabilities, and any other children with disabilities who require this instruction, to enable them to---

(i) Develop an awareness of the environment in which they live; and
(ii) Learn the skills necessary to move effectively and safely from place to place within that environment (e.g., in school, in the home, at work, and in the community)." [emphasis added]

While most schools will not think about travel training for students with learning and/or attention problems, parents are well advised to consider  their child's need to get around their larger community and to determine  whether their child might need assistance learning the skills needed to navigate beyond their school building. These can range from reading a map, understanding travel zones and fares on local transport systems, looking both ways when crossing a street, and personal safety issues when they are out and about in their neighborhood. Even driving lessons for older students could be considered among the "... skills necessary to move effectively and safely from place to place ..." 

Thinking about travel and transportation in a broader way can help create a meaningful IEP that will assist students in navigating their world safely and efficiently.

school bus photo courtesy cc

Friday Follow-up

There is news about a couple of issues we've discussed in recent blogs, so we're taking a moment to bring you up to date.

Free Metrocards for New York City students were threatened by budget cuts, an issue we addressed back in January of this year. The loss of free transportation to and from school would have hit low income families particularly hard and students and families protested this loss in a number of public venues, including a student march across the Brooklyn Bridge. Today's New York Times reports that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which issues the free passes, is near a deal with New York State which would require the State to contribute $25 million that would ensure that the free student Metrocards would remain available.We hope the dysfunctional New York legislature can keep this deal on track so that students and their parents are not penalized by the MTA.

Another issue we explored recently was a series of proposals from the New York State Board of Regents, the governing entity for schools in New York State, that would make changes to how special education services were provided to students. The Board meets again this coming Monday, June 21st and has just released its agenda and proposals. While it is not clear that the Board is making changes to VESID, which is the arm of the State Education Department that has been responsible for special education, they have proposed a number of important changes, which include how teachers are alerted to the contents of IEPs, changes to class sizes in certain situations, and removing limits on the size of speech and language groups. Parts of these meetings are accessible to the public via webcast, although it is not clear if the webcast will cover discussion and resolution of these important issues, which appear to be part of subcommittee discussions.

The Wheels on the Bus....

A recent conversation about the threatened budget cuts that would eliminate free transit passes for New York City school children this coming spring reminded us about the broader issue of student transportation. Whether New York City gets its fiscal act together to continue the long standing practice of providing school children with Metrocards that allow students to travel between home and school, or whether parents will be hit with the substantial expense of paying for their childrens' rides, remains unresolved at the present.

But another transportation issue comes up from time to time with the families we see. Students who learn differently sometimes benefit from attending a private school with specfic supports for their learning issues. Whether students are placed in a private school by their district, which has determined that the public school system cannot provide an appropriate education, or whether the student has been enrolled by his parents, who are seeking a better educational setting than they believe the public school can provide, the rules for transportation are the same. If a student needs transportation to access the private school, it should be provided as a "related service" under the IDEA (The Individuals with Disabilties Education Act). In New York State outside of city districts, schools are generally not required to provide transportation for a regular nonpublic school  that is more than 15 miles from a student's residence. For students with disabilities, transportation is generally provided for attendence at private schools within 50 miles of a student's residence. Families seeking transportation to private schools are required to give notice by April 1st of the year preceding the one in which transport will be required.

Even parents who unilaterally place their children in private, special education settings which they intend to pay for out of their own pocket may want to consider obtaining an IEP under the IDEA that provides for transportation services. It can be a real benefit to families to have the public school district provide this expensive and important service. And remember, for students in private schools it is the district where the school is located, rather than the district where the student resides, which is the district responsible for developing the IEP.