School Bus

As president of the Maryland School Bus Contractors Association I was dismayed to read about speed cameras in Baltimore City and Baltimore County catching school bus drivers violating posted speed limits in school zones ("Speed cameras catch school buses," Oct. 24). This is a serious issue that needed to be brought to light. While the MSBCA does not currently represent any school bus contractors in Baltimore City and has no affiliation with the companies referred to in the article, we do represent a significant number of companies that contract with local school boards throughout the state and take the subject of your report to heart.

The city of Baltimore agreed Wednesday to pay $100,000 to a West Baltimore family whose special-needs student died after falling from a moving school bus in 2010. City Solicitor George Nilson said school officials knew that Jeremy C. Jennings Jr., the emotionally disturbed 6-year-old, needed to be restrained on the bus but failed to do so. "A young, vulnerable child was sent off to school and didn't return home through no fault of his own," said Nilson, a member of the city Board of Estimates.

Few experiences can be more unnerving to a parent than temporarily losing track of a toddler or very young child. It usually means a frantic search with one's heart in one's mouth, all the while imagining the worst, even when it turns out the child has wandered no farther than into the next room. So one can empathize with Megan Brown, the Harford County mother who earlier this month spent 40 anxious minutes desperately searching for her 4-year-old son, Luke, after his school bus arrived earlier than usual in front their house in Darlington and the driver left him there unattended.

An 18-year old Annapolis resident who last week was arrested and charged with marijuana possession on a school bus at Annapolis High School was arrested on Tuesday night at an apartment and charged with marijuana possession, according to Annapolis police. According to a Wednesday morning police report, Luis Ruiz of Annapolis was arrested after officers received a report around 9:05 p.m. on Tuesday that he was selling drugs on the 1100 block on Madison Street. Officers subsequently approached Ruiz when he left the area and ran into an apartment on the 1000 block of President Street, police said.

As Anne Arundel County school bus driver Linda LaMarsh made the third stop on Mountain Road during her late run Wednesday afternoon, she put on her hazard lights, then her yellow lights, then her red lights that warn drivers not to pass while children are getting off. The driver of a dark blue sedan traveling in the opposite direction didn't even pause while blowing through the lights and LaMarsh's extended stop sign — flagrantly committing a...

Six children on their way Meadowvale Elementary School in Havre de Grace were injured Friday morning as a driver heading the opposite direction crossed the double yellow lines, police said. Harford County Police said Carol Allen, 57, of Havre de Grace, heading west Level Road towards I-95, struck bus # 611 driven by Thomas Knight, 61, also of Havre de Grace around 8:15 a.m. Police said then the school bus then spun into the west bound lane of Level Road striking a1998 Chevy Trailblazer, driven by Edward Folderauer, 55, of Forest Hill.

At least 13 people were injured in a collision involving a school bus and a minivan in the city's Oldtown neighborhood this afternoon, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. The bus, #1622, was transporting the National Academy Foundation #421's high school girls soccer team, which was en route to Baltimore Polytechnic Institute for an afternoon game, said Edie House Foster, a schools spokeswoman. Those injured in the accident, which occurred about 3:10 p.m. at the intersection of Ensor and East Madison streets, included 11 students on the bus and the driver and a passenger in the minivan, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a fire department spokesman.

Baltimore City Council members called Thursday for strengthened policies and supervision of school transportation for special-needs students — a discussion spurred by the death of a 6-year-old who fell from the back of a moving school bus last month. In a hearing called by the council's education committee, experts and parents also criticized school bus practices and procedures as insufficient in meeting the needs of special-education students, who make up the majority of students carried by city-owned and -contracted yellow school buses.

When it comes to maneuvering a 35-foot-long school bus, Dave Edwards tries to think in simple terms. "It's a really big minivan," he says jokingly. Edwards, a driver from Mechanicsville, and approximately 100 others from across the country showed off their expertise in parking, cornering and braking on Sunday at the School Bus Driver International Safety Competition in Anne Arundel County. During the all-day competition, drivers simulated parallel parking, backing out of alleys, crossing railroad tracks and picking up students among other activities.

Howard County school officials are investigating an incident involving an 11-year-old autistic boy who was handcuffed by police officers on a school bus after he allegedly bit several adults and students. The child, who does not speak and has limited social skills, according to his mother, was being transported from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, which accepts students whose severe learning disabilities require specialized education not provided by public school systems.

It is 6:45 a.m. and Severna Park High School freshman Chelsea Rogers has a decision to make: skip the most important meal of the day or skip the school bus. "There's no time for breakfast," said Rogers after reaching the corner of Hill Road and Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard in Severna Park, where the bus will take her to school in time for classes to begin at 7:17 a.m. She said she hadn't had a bite since 8 p.m. the night before and wouldn't eat...

Perry Hall High School student Robert W. Gladden Jr. pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder in a shooting attack on a schoolmate last August, bringing an abrupt end to his trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court. Gladden, 15, had told investigators that he wanted to kill himself when he fired his father's shotgun in a crowded lunchroom on the first day of school. Now he could be imprisoned until he is 55. Returning to court two weeks after failing to convince a judge that he should be tried as a juvenile, Gladden formally admitted Tuesday to shooting 17-year-old Daniel Borowy, a special-needs student at the public school.

Devin Michael Spence, a teacher at Manchester Valley High School who died Monday, Feb. 11, in a car accident, will be remembered for his big heart and kind soul, according to those who knew him. Spence, 23, was killed after his car crashed into a private school bus and burst into flames Monday morning. The Carroll County Sheriff's Department reported to the scene and believe icy roads played a part in the accident. A math teacher, Spence joined the staff at Manchester Valley High School last August, according to Randy Clark, Manchester Valley's principal.

A math teacher at Manchester Valley High School in Carroll County died Monday in a car accident that also involved a private school bus. Devin Michael Spence, 24, of Westminster, was killed in the crash when his 2001 Ford Focus collided with the bus, according to the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. Five students and a driver were on the bus, which was transporting students to Delone Catholic High School in Pennsylvania. No one on the bus was injured. According to the Sheriff's Office, the accident occurred just before 7 a.m. on Sullivan Road near its intersection with Route 27, between Westminster and Manchester.

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An elementary school student threatened a schoolmate with a bb gun during a morning school bus ride Wednesday in Northwest Baltimore, according to a city schools spokeswoman. Both students were boys, on a bus bound for Arlington Elementary School, said Edie House Foster, the spokeswoman. The threat was reported to school officials, and an investigation was launched by school police. House Foster said she did not know who reported the threat, nor did she know whether school police were able to find the weapon involved.

A 13-year-old boy was struck by an SUV while walking to his school bus in Crofton Thursday morning, according to Anne Arundel County fire officials. Fire crews responded to John Hopkins Road and Lowell Court after a 7:37 a.m. 911 call, said Lt. Cliff Kooser of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. The boy was taken to the pediatric intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital with serious injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, Kooser said. No one else was injured, he said.

A Baltimore school bus driver might have violated policy after failing to stop when a 6-year-old special-needs student tried to exit through the front door — and ultimately fell to his death from the back of the still-moving bus. Drivers are trained to stop a bus whenever a student is disruptive or not seated, said Keith Scroggins, chief operating officer for city schools. That policy isn't written in the school system's transportation manual, but it will be added in January, he said.

Last month, when 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot and wounded by the Taliban in Pakistan, the world responded with outrage. That she was simply defending her right to an education made the event even more astounding. Her almost superhuman courage represents the face of an entire generation of girls around the world who struggle against extraordinary odds to get an education. Malala's struggle is at once unique and ubiquitous. Most girls in the developing world are not shot on a school bus. Yet they continue to face high barriers that keep them from school and make education an uphill struggle.

Approximately two weeks ago, while waiting in the queue of cars of parents and family members at dismissal time in front of St. John's Lane Elementary School in Ellicott City, I was amazed and angered by what transpired. With the dismissal of students at 3:15 p.m., and the daily rush of cars at the loop to pick up the kids, the entrance to the parking lot backs up, and traffic on St. John's Lane comes to a stop. As I awaited to turn left in to the parking lot, several vehicles, followed by two school buses, crossed the double yellow center line, to drive around the back up in the wrong lane.