transferring for the people doing the transfers—the adults involved, the teacher or para educator, the parents—outweighs the risk of transporting the student in their wheelchair and keeping them in their same safe environment that they use during the day at school and for any mobility,” she added. For districts navigating wheel- chair ssecurement and training, she recommended a transpor- tation team member meet the child before they start their ride. For instance, when students are enrolled in school and they’re meeting the teacher, somebody from transportation needs to in- spect their wheelchair and identify the securement points and note any issues. “I know that doesn’t happen
in a lot of cases,” she said, add- ing that usually students show up to the bus stop and they load the wheelchair on the spot. She said another method is to have parents send a picture of the wheelchair, that includes the model, as that could also help transportation determine the securement points. “Many wheelchairs now are
custom. They have a different seatback, they have a different brand of armrest, they have dif- ferent brand footrest, and the seat cushion is different from the back cushion. The chest harness is from a different brand as well,” she said, highlighting the challenges in identifying the wheelchair off brand name alone. On the contrary, Norfolk Public Schools in Virginia transports 73 students in wheelchairs, which slightly impacts routing. Senior Director of Transportation Ashley Fussel said the district has 68 buses that transport students with special needs, with a maximum of four students in wheelchairs
per bus. An attendant is not required on those buses, unless specified per a student’s IEP, but she said her department strives to provide the support to drivers when possible. “We train all our drivers that come
through, regardless of if they want to be regular education drivers,” Fussel shared. “We still do wheelchair train- ing, so they get a full day of special needs training on the wheelchair securement.”
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www.stnonline.com 41
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