Parents of special needs kids want changes after school bus fire

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Parents of special needs children are calling on the Puyallup school district to put an extra adult on their buses after a close call with a fire this week.

Three people stopped to help the driver safely evacuate the kids just before the bus burst into flames.

Parents of the special needs kids who were rescued are eager to thank those involved, but believe this highlights the need for an extra person to be on board. Fire crews say it was fortunate no one was hurt or even killed.

Eight students were safely evacuated. Three of them had to be carried off. Jessica White was one of three adults who pulled over to help driver Ron Kitts, who was by himself.

"The kids were screaming and we were trying to get them calmed down," White said.

Russell Kuhne was the first to come to the rescue.

"I asked the guy if he needed help and he said yes and we got the rest of the kids off the bus and about 30 seconds later it turned into no more bus," Kuhne said.

Parents of two of the autistic girls say they're grateful for the driver and the people who helped, but say this is a wakeup call for the district.

"So thankful to them that they did stop so I do think they need to be aware of this and they do need to have somebody else on the bus other than just the bus driver," said parent Jennifer Haynes.

They point to the possibility that without help the driver might not have gotten all the kids out before the bus burst into flames since three had to be carried out one by one.

"I don't want to think about it," said White. "Especially with it being a bus full of special needs, special disability children. I would think that there would be another person on the bus."

Then once the children were off the bus, who would have contained them and kept them from wandering?

"Because if Jessica wasn't there and the bus driver got off the bus my daughter would have been gone, period," Haynes said.

The district says some special needs students have one-to-one aides who ride the bus with them. But as a whole there are no plans to put an extra staff member on the special needs buses.

The state superintendent's office said there are no state laws requiring extra staffing. It is up to each district.

As we reported recently, the North Kitsap district added staffing to its special needs buses after a student was accused of sexually assaulting other children on board.

The Puyallup parents say they're going to push to make the same change here.

"Even when your child is okay, just knowing the danger that they were in and knowing that it could have gone differently," said parent Taneia Larkin.

The parents the extra adult wouldn't just be there for emergencies, but also for day-to-day monitoring of the kids while the driver concentrates on driving.