Ms. Robertson is the guardian for her 11-year-old nephew. She has had multiple family members on call so that when the bus is late – someone can take her nephew to school so that she isn’t forced to miss work. Yet nothing prepared her for the day her nephew was dropped off at his late mother’s house instead of their home. She explains to The Washington Post, “We had to split up to find him. And as he’s getting off the bus, he’s excited like he’s going to see his mom.”

After working with the city for years to attempt to resolve our city’s school bus transportation issues, we knew we needed to leverage different legal tools.

Each family hopes they can help resolve a systemic issue that has disrupted the lives of hundreds of families each year and make sure that every child who rides transportation gets the education they deserve.

Children's Law Center has voiced concerns about DC's school transportation challenges since federal court monitoring on this very issue ended in 2012. We have represented hundreds of families on special education matters where DC failed to get a child to school, raised concerns in DC Council hearings and worked collaboratively with OSSE to identify solutions.

Yet the number of children showing up late to school – or not at all – has only gotten worse.

Children’s Law Center and our partners filed a complaint and an emergency motion in hopes that the court can step in and take swift action – before these children miss yet another year of learning.

If your family has faced similar transportation issues, we'd like to hear from you! Take a moment to share your bus story here and pass the word to others who might want to share as well.

Kathy Zeisel

Director of Special Legal Projects

Children’s Law Center 

P.S. This litigation is one of many new legal strategies we’re implementing to ensure we can solve problems for as many children as possible – with solutions that last. Learn more here.