School Bus Company ‘Deeply Sorry’ for Stranding R.I. Students in Rocky Start to School Year
State education officials issue corrective action plan and promise to reimburse families of kids not picked up by bus.
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A Connecticut-based school bus company awarded an expanded contract to provide transportation for Rhode Island students is apologizing for service disruptions that left families scrambling to get their children to and from school in the first couple weeks of school.
Service disruptions attributed to a shortage of drivers led the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to issue a corrective action plan last Friday to DATTCO Motorcoach, the company awarded a three-year, $20 million statewide bus contract in May. The contract expanded DATTCO’s existing service area to span most of the state, from Westerly to Woonsocket, and the majority of the state’s urban core.
It was unclear how many children were stranded without bus service, but they included children with disabilities who were not picked up for school or whose families were called to come get them in the afternoon because bus service became unavailable. The problems drew fierce condemnation on Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Rhode Island and Rhode Island Center for Justice. The advocacy organizations demanded in a letter that RIDE correct the issues by Tuesday, sooner than the deadline of 10 days RIDE set in its own condemnatory letter to DATTCO on Sept. 6.
“DATTCO has left multiple students in wheelchairs for hours at their schools,” Lisa Odom-Villella, deputy commissioner for instructional programs at RIDE, wrote in the Sept. 6 letter outlining a corrective action plan.
Families of kids who were left without school bus transportation may seek compensation for any resulting travel costs, according to state education officials. Parents of affected children have been contacted about the reimbursement process.
“We are deeply sorry to any students or families who were or continue to be affected by the challenges that we faced last week as the school year began,” Paul Mayer, a spokesperson for DATTCO, wrote in an email Wednesday to Rhode Island Current.
Mayer said the vast majority of routes DATTCO services in Rhode Island are running as scheduled, and noted the company’s otherwise successful track record in recent years.
“We know that it is not acceptable and that our apology must be followed up by action, and to that end we have already made significant progress with each passing day as routes become staffed with permanent drivers and aides.
“Though many of the immediate concerns raised have already been rectified or are in the process of being corrected, we know that our work is not done.”
Five afternoon bus routes were without coverage on Monday, down from 17 last week, said Victor Morente, an education department spokesperson. There was no school Tuesday because of Election Day. Morente said all Wednesday morning routes were covered, but four afternoon routes were not expected to run; families impacted on two of the afternoon routes were notified on Tuesday. The other two routes were canceled on Wednesday morning when drivers called in sick and families were immediately notified.
Morente said two routes would be affected on Thursday afternoon and that parents had already been contacted.
“DATTCO has reported that all morning routes now have drivers, but one route did not run because a driver was out sick,” Morente wrote in an email Monday. “The vast majority of students have not been impacted and DATTCO has sought ways to increase coverage.”
After state officials first became aware of service problems on Aug. 29, they reassigned 26 of approximately 300 bus routes to First Student, which already services parts of Providence and Bristol counties for RIDE’s statewide bussing system. DATTCO admitted they had no way of fully staffing the routes.
“RIDE was under the impression that all the remaining Dattco routes would be covered the week of September 3,” Morente said. But it was clear that was untrue on the first day of school in Providence (school districts start at different times). RIDE became aware DATTCO was having individual drivers do multiple runs, which can slow and complicate service. RIDE took five more routes and awarded them to First Student, who had enough properly licensed drivers.
First Student, a national bussing company based in Cincinnati, will keep the 31 routes for the remainder of the three-year contract, Morente said. The routes run from the East Bay up to Woonsocket.
First Student did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
In May, state officials awarded most of their rezoned transportation districts to DATTCO after a competitive bid process — a move which drew union anger, ABC-6 reported, as Dattco is mostly non-union compared to First Student.
The ACLU and Rhode Island Center for Justice called on RIDE to immediately fix the problem and develop an alternative plan as a backup should DATTCO fail to provide necessary services again.
“RIDE maintains responsibility for ensuring that students get the transportation required by their IEPs [individualized education programs, which are for students who receive special education] as of Sept. 3, 2024,” the letter stated.
Looking for drivers
Anthony F. Cottone, RIDE’s chief legal counsel, responded to the ACLU letter Tuesday, saying there was “no reason to believe that DATTCO was not capable of performing its contract … at the outset of the 2024-2025 school year,” given that the company had already been providing bus services in parts of Rhode Island since 2020.
DATTCO previously told WPRI-12 that there was a licensing issue with its drivers, many of whom are based in Connecticut and lack the proper credentials to drive a school bus in Rhode Island. After news of the bus route issues broke, DATTCO posted to its Facebook page on Sept. 7 that it was looking for Rhode Island drivers. A similar notice has been posted on its webpage since at least late August.
“RIDE reached out to other vendors to cover additional routes but there were no more available CDL drivers,” Morente said Tuesday.
Cottone’s letter pointed out that DATTCO’s logistical errors were due in part to sloppy planning: On Sept. 3, the agency received a “transportation plan” from DATTCO which showed over 30 routes would have “double runs,” or one driver serving two routes.
“That would result in children on such routes getting to school an average of 1 hour and 41 minutes late,” Cottone wrote. “It was evident that DATTCO both was short bus drivers and was suffering an internal communications breakdown.”
“RIDE immediately informed DATTCO that it was in breach of its contract…and began brainstorming with the Governor’s Office and the Department of Motor Vehicles about ways to enable licensed Connecticut drivers to operate in Rhode Island,” Cottone’s letter continues. “In fact, DATTCO has since admitted, in writing, that this plan using ‘double runs’ ‘was not suitable.’”
Demands outlined
The ACLU and Rhode Island Center for Justice letter made six demands of RIDE: that the governor issue an emergency executive order, that RIDE’s website post information about affected bus routes the night prior, as well as create an alternate route for each affected route and a dedicated hotline for parents’ phone calls.
The letter urged RIDE to offer compensatory education for any school time missed, as well as travel costs for parents whose kids weren’t able to take the bus. The ACLU specified mileage at the federal rebate rate of 67 cents a mile plus $20 a day for parents who drive, or the cost of any car service used by parents who don’t drive.
Ellen Saideman, cooperating counsel for the ACLU, responded to the RIDE response in an interview Tuesday.
“Basically they said that they’re doing everything that we wanted them to do,” Saideman said. “It does seem like they’ve made some progress. They hired more bus drivers, more routes are covered…I think the point is that there was clearly a problem in this catastrophic start last week.”
Cottone wrote in RIDE’s response Tuesday that eligible parents were notified they could request reimbursements through their resident school district, with the districts later reimbursed by RIDE, although it is unclear if the reimbursements will follow the model the ACLU wanted.
Morente said on Wednesday that all families of affected students had been informed by phone call and email about service delays, as well as information on how to seek reimbursements. Morente also forwarded an example of the form parents can fill out for reimbursement, and explained the process.
“Districts reimburse parents, Statewide [the RIDE transportation system] credits districts on invoices after collecting the forms, and then payment to the vendor responsible for the interruption for the total month is reduced by the total parent costs,” Morente wrote.
Saideman was still curious why the education department wasn’t more immediately up front about the steps it was taking to correct the problem.
“Why isn’t it posted on their website?” Saideman said about the reimbursements. “I think the point about transparency is… it isn’t that hard to update your website and post information.”
McKee’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and X.
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