Driver Donates Retirement Incentive to Special-Needs Student Program

DARLINGTON, Md. — A special-needs school bus driver here recently retired and donated his early retirement incentive to his district’s autism program, The Baltimore Sun reports.

Ted Quatman, a driver for Harford County Public Schools, retired on June 18 after nine years of driving Darlington Elementary School special-needs students. Quatman told the newspaper that he and his wife took advantage of the district’s $500 early retirement incentive this year and donated the money back to the district’s autism program called STRIVE, which stands for Succeeding Together Reaching Individual Visions Everyday. Quatman, who had been planning to retire for sometime, added that he made the decision to donate to the program well before the district announced the retirement incentive.

Alberta Porter, the principal for Darlington Elementary School, told The Baltimore Sun that while it may be hard to replace Quatman, she intends to use his donation to purchase “something for the students that will reinforce their behavior and interests, like kinetic sand or new helmets to be used with a recent donation of bicycles." She also said that the funds could go toward field trips, according to the newspaper.

In his retirement, Quatman told The Baltimore Sun that he plans to fish in the spring, summer, and fall, and that in the winter he’ll be back at school “bothering” everyone.

Read the full story and view a tweet from Harford County Public Schools below.

We'd like to wish a happy retirement to Ted Quatman, bus driver for Darlington Elementary, who is retiring after nine years with us! He is donating his $500 early retirement incentive to the STRIVE program at Darlington Elementary! Thank you Mr. Ted! https://t.co/AxNRZ8RZxF

— HCPS (@HCPSchools) June 18, 2019