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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
 Posted - 12/09/2006 : 1:38:16 PM
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Dec. 8, 2006
The Journal Sentinel
A small school in its first year in Milwaukee's private school voucher program was ordered out of the program Friday by state officials as a result of an accident in which a school bus hit a firetruck on Nov. 29, sending 18 children to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
The bus was carrying students of Elijah's Brook God's Nation Children School, 7429 W. Bradley Road, when it struck the truck, which was backing into a fire station at 8025 W. Bradley Road. The driver of the bus was not licensed and the school has not provided evidence that it had insurance in force, the order from the Department of Public Instruction said.
"Clearly, it's not a safe place for kids," said Tony Evers, deputy state superintendent of public instruction. "They demonstrated it on Nov. 29 and we have no reason to believe it is any safer now."
Separately on Friday, the driver of the bus, Carlos Mayes, issued a public apology to the children, their parents and the firefighters who were involved, saying he was sorry for what had happened.
State regulations require schools in the voucher program to have insurance and allow the state to remove a school from the program on grounds that it is not operating in a safe fashion.
The school had 52 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, as of the official attendance date in September.
The order said the operator of the school, Sheme Thorns, had told the state the school had insurance but did not notify officials that the insurance was cancelled prior to the accident for failure to pay premiums. Thorns told a DPI official after the accident that there was insurance but did not provide satisfactory evidence of that, the order said.
"We've asked on many occasions for a copy of anything that would indicate they do (have insurance) or did at the time of the accident and there has been nothing forthcoming that would lead us to believe either of those two things are in place," Evers said.
Thorns did not respond to a call from a Journal Sentinel reporter asking for comment and has not responded to reporters' calls or visits to the school, which is located in a small strip mall, since the accident.
Evers said the school in recent days paid the state about $3,200 it had been told to repay from a voucher payment in September. Prior to the accident, DPI officials said they would release a payment to the school of about $135,000, due at the end of November, if the repayment was made. But Evers said that in the light of the new order, that payment would not be made.
"Clearly the school demonstrated that it cannot operate in a safe and healthful fashion, therefore we do not believe payments are due to them," Evers said.
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Main Thread -- WI - 18 hurt when school bus strikes fire engine
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Edited by - JK on 12/09/2006 1:43:34 PM
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2006 : 5:07:03 PM
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I wonder why state officials didn't take action before the bus crash? Did the school bus driver know that he had to have all of the proper credentials prior to driving the bus?
"We've asked on many occasions" |
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CPCSC_TD
Top Member
USA
657 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2006 : 7:57:35 PM
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My guess would be yes, but perhaps as time lapsed, no. During driver's educaiton to get an operators permit- for an auto, it outlines when you need a commercial driver's license. However, for some that never took the course, or if it has been modified, then I don't think one relaizes that.
If the schoo lhad insurance, then the driver's infor would have to have been turned in. There for the insurance company, if one was insured, would have caught that. |
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School loses state funding over bus crash
