DRIVING THE INDUSTRY SINCE 1991
their IEP, and about 800 are eligible for token/fare cards to use on the Metro, Solchenberger said. “Our goal is to ensure a
safe ride to school during the hot and humid extend- ed school year months,” he said. “[Before], not all buses had A/C, and we received a lot of parent complaints in July and August during the extended school year, and in September and October, which is hot and humid.” Te school district now
partners with the DC Department of Motor Vehicles. Te DMV won’t pass a school bus during its routine bus inspections if it discovers that an on-board A/C unit isn’t working, even if everything else on the bus works fine. Te DMV also will notify Sol- chenberger of the issue.
He said the cost of air
conditioning repair and maintenance varies widely, depending on the scope of the work. But on average, replacing a unit (his buses each have two) costs about $2,000. Simple maintenance and/or charging work for the units cost about $200. “Now we run 300 buses
during the extended school year, and they all have A/C,” he said. Solchenberger added that despite all of the buses hav- ing climate control systems, the need for air conditioning for a special needs student is still discussed and included in the student’s IEP. But his department now rarely receives complaints. “Just having every single
bus working with A/C takes care of that for us,” he said.
STEPS, QUESTIONS IN PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION WITH A/C
Pete Meslin, transportation director for Newport-Mesa Unified
School District in Costa Mesa, Calif., and presenter at the TSD Confer- ence, has had experience with a few cases that threatened to reach hearing, but they were resolved before they reached that stage. His department routinely takes steps to prevent problems in this area:
• If climate controlled transportation is requested, the district requires a doctor report since a climate control requirement is a medical diagnosis.
• If a doctor’s note is presented at the IEP requiring climate-con- trolled transportation, the district requests a release to allow dis- trict medical personnel to speak to the doctor. The district needs specific medical protocols in order to serve the student properly, specifically:
What are the student’s symptoms when temperature is at issue?
What specific actions must staff take when this is the case? What other regular school activities might be impacted by this
requirement, and what accommodations might be appropriate? What are the specific temperature ranges that need to be main- tained, and for what duration? Would alternative options, designed to keep the core temperature cool (like a cooling vest), work in lieu of air conditioning?
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