Parents and staff press Flagler County school board for faster fixes to bus safety and ESE training

Parents, a student and school support staff pressed the Flagler County School Board on Aug. 26 to relocate dangerous bus stops, improve training for transportation staff who serve students with exceptionalities, and fix communication gaps that left families without reliable bus information at the start of the school year.

At a public comment session following the board’s regular business, parents described traffic and route changes that they said create immediate safety hazards. “This is not a small concern. It is a preventable tragedy that is waiting to happen,” parent Christie Butler said of a stop on Old Kings Road at Sugar Mill Drive and urged the district to “relocate this stop to inside the neighborhood where the children can safely enter and exit the bus.”

Board members and staff said the transportation department is already working through items discussed during an earlier workshop, and they outlined near-term and longer-term efforts to improve safety and communication. Those items include standard operating procedures, targeted training, technology improvements to provide bus-status updates and year-to-year fixed routes, officials said.

Why it matters: students who rely on buses include children with disabilities and other vulnerable groups; inconsistent routes, limited training and poor advance communication can increase safety and welfare risks for those students and create high stress for families and staff.

What parents told the board

• Parents recounted drivers passing stopped school buses and near-miss collisions. Butler said drivers at the Eagle Lakes stop have “regularly break[n] the law by passing stopped school buses,” and that several adults had been nearly struck while students were boarding or exiting.

• Parents described late changes to pickup locations that forced families to transport students themselves when they judged the stop unsafe. Several speakers said they had filled out the district’s transportation surveys but had not seen a timely resolution.

• Parents and a student called for physical improvements at stops such as added concrete pads or bike racks and enforcement of speed limits around schools and in community areas.

Special-needs concerns and training

Families of students with disabilities told the board that route changes, inconsistent driver assignments and minimal training are harming continuity of care. “Respectfully, a slideshow is not training,” parent Kimberly Escobar said after reviewing the district’s training materials; she argued for structured, competency-based instruction with assessments, de-escalation protocols and communication tools such as PECS for nonverbal students.

Lisa Torres, president of the Flagler Educational Support Professional Association, urged “job specific training for buses, for extended day, and for every environment where our students need support,” and said staff are being presented with violent or life‑threatening incidents without consistent preparation.

Drivers and aides also raised operational constraints. Lakisha Ayers White, a school bus driver and CDL trainer, told the board that drivers are told how families can review individualized education program (IEP) information but that the system of providing that information to routes needs improvement. Board and staff acknowledged confusion over whether certain documents were being made available to drivers automatically.

District response and next steps

Superintendent Lashaka Moore and transportation staff described specific items already in motion: distribution of ESE bus rider forms, a new transportation concern submission form, adjustments to call routing so parents can reach staff while buses are operating, and plans for technology that would deliver more reliable, real‑time bus-status information. A district staff member said the administration is exploring a bus-status webpage and other improvements identified at a midday workshop.

Board members said they heard parents’ concerns and pressed staff for timelines. Staff described recruitment and retention challenges — the district reported being short multiple routes — and emphasized the need for funding and scheduled training time for employees to attend competency-based programs. Staff also noted the district’s intent to pilot fixed routes for continuity and to host driver meet-and-greets to build relationships before school starts.

No formal board action was taken on the public comments; instead the board and superintendent directed staff to continue implementing the workshop recommendations, coordinate with parents and unions on training design, and report back with measurable milestones. Superintendent Moore urged parents to use district contacts and said staff would follow up individually, and board members asked the transportation director and plant services to meet with concerned families.

Ending

Parents and union leaders said they will remain engaged as the district rolls out new procedures. Board members said they expect to receive progress updates and asked staff to prioritize safety measures that can be executed quickly while planners pursue longer-term technology and route stability improvements.