Are you the parent of a child with autism or a physical disability who receives special education services? Does your child need transportation services? Do you feel that special education staff are not telling the truth about what the federal special education law (IDEA 2004) says about transportation? This article will discuss 5 lies parents are commonly told about transportation. Also, discuss how to overcome these lies to help your child receive needed transportation services.

Lie 1: We can keep your child on the bus for as long as we want. While IDEA 2004 does not address the length of the bus ride, long bus rides can negatively affect a child’s education (causing stress, negative behavior). Bus rides can be discriminatory and can result in denial of FAPE. Why a long bus ride could be discriminatory? If children with disabilities are on the bus longer than children without disabilities, this could be considered discrimination.

Lie 2: No one says we have to provide transportation for your child, and we won’t. Transportation is considered a related service and must be provided to a child if she needs the service in order for her to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).

Lie 3: The transportation director makes decisions about whether a child needs transportation, not the IEP team. In an OSEP document titled Questions and Answers About Serving Children with Disabilities Eligible for Transportation OSEP states that “The IEP team is responsible for determining whether transportation is required to help a child with a disability benefit from special education and related services…” If your child needs transportation, make sure it is listed on your child’s IEP as a related service (if the child does not ride the regular educational bus).

Lie 4: The state says we can get your child to school 15 minutes late every day and get your child out 15 minutes early due to transportation issues. Ask the school to show you in writing any documentation that shows she has the right to do what she wants to do. In the example above, you could ask, “Please show me in writing that our State Department of Education is allowing interruption of education due to transportation issues.”

In fact, the above OSEP document makes it clear that the school day for a child with a disability should not be longer or shorter than the school day for general education students. Since a child would receive less educational time, this could also be a denial of FAPE.

Lie 5: If you want your child to participate in extracurricular activities, you must provide transportation, we are not required to. In fact, IDEA 2004 states that a child with a disability is entitled to transportation for required after-school activities, as well as extracurricular activities. Make sure the extracurricular activity is included in your child’s IEP and that it also states that she needs transportation to participate in the activity.

How to overcome these transport links?

1. Learn about the transportation requirements in IDEA 2004 (which is the federal special education law). I use the book Special Education Law 2nd edition by Peter and Pam Wright, which is fantastic. This book, as well as much more advocacy information for parents, can be found at: http://www.wrightslaw.com.

2. Call your state’s Parent Information and Training Center (PTIC) for help advocating for transportation issues.

3. Bring all of the above information to an IEP meeting to help you advocate.

Good luck in your defense!