Tommy called with nervous laughter in his voice, "We were hit!" For the second time in 6 years, the short bus was in an accident. In those same 6 years, none of our other children, riding regular buses, have had accidents. I could hear the special needs children in the background struggling to hold it together. Let’s be honest, some were absolutely out of control. I could feel Tommy struggling to maintain himself. He wanted to succumb to the madness. He wanted to be sucked down into the land of immaturity but he fought to maintain control despite his morning routine being way out of whack and his surroundings in chaos.
An officer stepped on the bus to check on the children. Tommy laughs and blurts out, "I didn’t do it!" The officer responds, "You’re always guilty!" Tommy calls again. His anxiety is obviously high but he seems to be maintaining himself. "We’re on the news!" WATE put a few seconds of the bus on the news but nothing on the website. It was just a minor scrap on the back corner by an 18 wheeler. For the locals, the truck driver made the mistake of trying to navigate the curve in South Gallaher View Road near Gleason at the same time the bus was in the curve. (Anyone remember the 18 wheeler that got stuck on the tracks trying to get down the drop off before the new crossing was put in?)
All turned out well. I still want Tommy to ride the regular bus next year but since we were unable to arrange a test run this year, he will have to start out on the short bus. I find it pathetic that our special needs buses have children with a variety of issues thrown together in a cramped space for noisy, lengthy rides and the only person to monitor and intervene is an untrained driver which means the driver, who should be 100% focused on the road, is having to divide time between driving and disciplining, comforting, and engaging the children who may have sensitivity issues (say to the noise) and be acting out, or the child might have a violent disposition and be sneaking abuse in on another child, and so forth. I find it inexcusable that every special needs bus does not have a trained aid for the full length of the ride to and from school. I’ll step off my soapbox now.
Update: My initial account of the incident.