District Bolsters Training After Student in Wheelchair Tips Over on School Bus

AUGUSTA, Ga. — A school district here is boosting training for its school bus staff after a student tipped over in his wheelchair during a bus ride.

News 12 reports that Kian Carter’s 12-year-old son, Jaquan, has a genetic disorder called trisomy. When he fell over in his wheelchair on the school bus ride home several weeks ago, he suffered a knot on his head and was crying, Carter told the news source.

Richmond County School System officials told News 12 that their investigation of the incident found that Kian’s wheelchair had not been secured properly due to a training deficiency. That prompted the district to put special-needs school bus staff through a week-long retraining and to provide refresher training more often.

"Previously attendants and drivers were trained when they were first hired with refresher training as needed,” a spokesperson for Richmond County School System told News 12. “In light of recent events, training will be much more frequent in order to ensure the continued safe operation of our buses."

Watch News 12’s report below.