School bus safety: Special needs parents say gaps in system put their children at risk

Since a school bus crash on Route 80 ended the lives of a fifth-grader and one of her teachers in May, a litany of bills from federal and state lawmakers focusing on driving records and physical fitness have been proposed.

But those bills, some of which focus on notification systems for suspended licenses or seat belt use, do little to address gaps in oversight and regulation of private school bus fleets, an investigation by the USA Today Network New Jersey has found.

That has left an already vulnerable population — special needs students — at risk.

Special needs students are often bused from their home school system to a district that has programs better suited to their educational needs. And a variety of third-party busing providers, from small to large, are used across the state to transport students out of their home districts.

“Some bus companies are very big and have all kinds of technology,” said Kim Cristo of Waldwick, whose daughter attends a special needs program in another district. “Some are just run out of a house and are sort of a one-man band.”

Among the problems plaguing transportation for these students are a nationwide shortage of drivers, low pay and a practice of accepting the "lowest acceptable bid" for the third-party companies typically hired for these routes.

In addition, the background check system — from the state agencies that conduct them down to the school districts that do the hiring — can leave parents of special needs students in the dark about who is driving their children.

Bus drivers and aides are required to submit a criminal background check that is conducted by independent bus operators or the school districts they are contracted to serve, said Michael Yaple, a spokesman for the state Department of Education.

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However, it's common practice for school districts to trust the bus companies that will be transporting special needs students when they say all drivers and aides have been cleared by state authorities.

“They sign in their contract that they are responsible for making sure,” said Kathy Vuoncino, a director for special education transportation in the Northern Valley regional high schools. “That’s been the trust factor that we have. We’re not liable for that.”

But research suggests that only 50 percent to 80 percent of commercial drivers nationwide self-report their convictions and traffic violations, according to a report from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Technically, drivers are required to report a violation to their employer within one day of its occurrence. If they don't, it could be up to a year before their employer is notified by the respective motor vehicle agency.

Who's responsible?

Contracts for busing routes that cross municipalities are rarely awarded by a single district. Instead, school boards work together in bargaining collectives, known in Bergen County as regions. This type of centralized system puts the onus on the bus companies to conduct the background checks, schools officials said.

Region 1, for example, covers much of western Bergen County and is based within the Mahwah school district offices.

Linda Raven, director of transportation for Region 1, said in December that her office "requires contractors to submit written assurances that they have complied with the law,” referring to criminal background checks.

Daniel Fishbein, superintendent of Ridgewood schools, which is part of Region 1, said his district relies on the companies to vet drivers.

“What the region has done is reach out to every provider to get a statement of assurance that all the bus drivers ...  have completed the criminal history background checks," he said.

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Fishbein acknowledges that student safety is the ultimate responsibility of the district. But he pointed to a "nationwide shortage of qualified school bus drivers," saying it "has resulted in higher prices and decreased competition."

"Parents aren't given info on who is driving the bus," said Cristo, of Waldwick. "All that info is on the contract, but we're not given access to that contract."

When Cristo sought a copy of the contract awarded to her daughter’s bus company by filing a public records request with the Waldwick school district, she was simply told to contact Mahwah.

"I didn't know if they meant the district or the region," she said. "The letter was very nebulous."

Background checks are conducted at the beginning of each school year and when each candidate applies for a driver’s license with an “S” endorsement — meaning they are road-tested to drive a school bus — from the Motor Vehicle Commission.

Gap in oversight

The Paramus school district has its own bus fleet and hires its own drivers.

One of them was Hudy Muldrow Sr., whose bus was involved in the May 17 fatal crash in Morris County.

Though Muldrow has no criminal record, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts, his driving record is spotty. 

His license had been suspended 14 times since 1975, most recently in December, leading the Department of Education to send a letter to the Paramus superintendent. By January, his license was reinstated.

Five months later, while driving students to a field trip at Waterloo Village, he missed his exit and attempted a U-turn on Route 80, according to state police, using a turnaround meant for emergency vehicles.

A dump truck struck the bus broadside, tearing it off its chassis. Muldrow has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of Miranda Vargas, 10, and Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy, 51.

Paramus does employ third-party companies, and the district’s transportation coordinator, Gisela Aultmon, said her office trusts that prospective drivers have been cleared to drive.

Steve Cea, the business administrator for Paramus schools, said the district does not receive an official copy of background checks for their contracted bus services. 

“We just assume that their information has gone to the county office,” Aultmon said. The owners of larger, reputable companies, she said, "make sure they follow the law.”

“It’s the little new companies that pop up out of nowhere that we have to watch, she said. "They’re the ones that would cut corners."

Miranda's Law

On July 25, Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and John Faso of New York introduced the Miranda Vargas School Bus Driver Red Flag Act, or "Miranda's Law."

The bill calls for a nationwide employer notification system that would send employers real-time, automatic alerts when the status of a bus driver’s license changes "due to a conviction for a moving violation, a failure to appear, an accident, driver’s license suspension … revocation, or any other action taken against the driving privilege.”

States that don't comply would risk losing federal highway funds, Gottheimer has said.

The bill defines school districts as "employers," even when they are using a third-party carrier.

Routine background checks are not enough, Gottheimer argued.

A driver may pass a criminal screening at the time of a license renewal, he said: “Six months later, you could have an incident that a parent would want to know about. It should be an immediate flag.”

However, Miranda's Law makes no direct mention of criminal convictions. Since the proposed system would be triggered by a change in a CDL's status, in the case of criminal charges, a notice to a school district would still rely on the court first alerting the MVC.

State police will send an immediate notice to the commission if any school bus driver contracted to a "private or parochial school" is charged with a drug-related crime, a crime "involving deviate or illicit social behavior such as rape, incest, sodomy or carnal abuse" or a crime involving the threat or use of force, including arson and assault, according to the MVC and state law.

But this allows the commission's chief administrator to suspend or revoke the driver's school bus endorsement, not necessarily the CDL.

Gottheimer's bill was largely based on a report from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and a memorandum issued last month by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services.

“We would hope that the employers of those persons would be the first point of contact for knowing that one of their applicants or existing drivers has committed some kind of a criminal act,” said Charlie Hood, executive director of the association.

Hood said instances of drivers with criminal records are rare, “but it’s still one of those zero tolerance for error situations.”

The state Senate Transportation Committee last month approved a package of bills to address school bus driver testing, qualification and eligibility, and to tighten requirements on school districts and contract companies to comply with state and federal laws governing driver safety.

Assembly Democrats have introduced a similar legislative package.

Driving with a record

Triumph Invalid Coach of Bogota currently serves routes for special education students living in Mahwah, Ramsey, Midland Park, Franklin Lakes, Oakland, Wyckoff and Ridgewood.

On Oct. 17 2017, Jasmine Miller of Lodi, who was driving for Triumph, crashed her yellow school bus into the guardrail of a Route 46 on-ramp in Hasbrouck Heights. Miller then exited her vehicle, walked onto the highway, and was struck by a car in the right lane, according to police reports.

Miller, who sustained minor injuries, later pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. Though no children were on her bus, the incident underscored the importance of a more open flow of information between educational agencies.

Court documents show that by the time of her accident, Miller was already facing criminal indictments for charges including threats to cause serious bodily injury with a knife, terroristic threats, attempted arson and endangering an 8-year-old child.

The charges stemmed from two domestic altercations in February and March 2017. Her trial on one of those indictments began June 5 in Superior Court.

Tom Curley of Ridgewood has been battling his district for years over what he sees as a lack of oversight for drivers and aides serving special education students, like his daughter, Claire.

“I warned you about this,” Tom Curley told the school board and Fishbein at a public meeting in January. “You’re asking the bus companies to perform the criminal background checks on themselves,” he said, adding, “They’re not equipped to do that.”

Triumph no longer operates the route that served Curley's daughter, according to an email the district sent to Curley the day after Miller's crash. The company’s other Region 1 contracts remain intact, however.

As for how Miller was employed, Raven, the director of transportation for Region 1, said her office was assured by Triumph that all their employees were cleared by the state in November 2017, one month after Miller's crash.

"Triumph Invalid Coach is not required to submit documentation on individual drivers to the region," she said.

Miller and Triumph’s president, Asim Abdelmagied, differ on the date of her hire, but both place it in early October, about seven months after her second indictment.

On Jan. 24, the same day Miller pleaded guilty to DWI in Hasbrouck Heights Municipal Court, Abdelmagied said he runs background checks on all his employees.

"Any bus company, to do this kind of business, they have to have this kind of stuff," he said. "It's required."

Jennifer Simons, a records custodian for the state Department of Education, said no background check is on file for Miller, and that checks for former drivers are retained.

Requests for an interview with the Bergen County superintendent of schools were not returned, and Steve Pasternack, special education supervisor for the county Department of Education, asked that all questions be directed to the state.

What others are doing

Janice Hubbard, special education transportation coordinator for Region 5, which operates within the River Edge school district, said she performs spot checks whenever she receives a parent’s complaint.

“The fact of the matter is, if I go out to do a spot check," Hubbard said, "the first thing I’m asking for is a driver’s license.”

Hubbard said she also receives notices from the county superintendent of schools if there is anything suspicious about an individual applicant. 

Representatives of Regions 6 and 7 said they also go beyond state requirements. Both obtain official copies of the state’s criminal history reviews for each driver.

“We request copies of everything they send to the county, the actual form that comes from the state that says this individual check has been performed,” said Karen Senario of Region 7.

“We even go out every week and check the vehicles and the drivers,” she added.

When asked what her office was doing to ensure transportation safety on a day-to-day basis, Raven said contracts are regularly reevaluated for "service and price." 

In a December 2017 interview, Fishbein, whose district used Miller and Triumph through Region 1, said, "If someone wants to cheat, and that can happen in any area of my responsibility, when we find that out, we won't work with them."