Ames parent tells school board lack of transportation limits kindergarten access for medically fragile child

Shelby Root, a third‑year veterinary student at Iowa State University and parent of a kindergartner at Fellows Elementary, urged the Ames Community School District Board of Directors on Sept. 22 to address transportation for medically fragile students.

Root described her son’s medical history and needs in detail, saying he was born five weeks premature, spent a month in a neonatal intensive‑care unit and later was treated for infantile spasms. She said he has a cortical visual impairment and is legally blind, an in‑utero brain injury, global developmental regression, cerebral palsy and ongoing therapy needs. “He now uses a wheelchair and assisted speech device for mobility and communication,” Root said.

Root told the board that district staff told her the only option for her son’s kindergarten placement was dual enrollment at Fellows because his day‑health provider, ChildServe, is in the Gilbert district. She said Gilbert’s transportation was not provided because the district had not received a request form. Root said the student's individualized education program (IEP) currently lists the family as providing transportation; she told the board that arrangement is not sustainable because she attends required classes and clinicals at the veterinary program.

Root said her son spends about six hours per week in medical therapies in addition to at‑home therapy, sees more than 10 specialists, has had multiple surgeries and will need more. She said she had asked the district to send a transportation request form to Gilbert, explore whether a paraprofessional could ride with him, or identify other transportation options; she said staff instead suggested she hire someone or change his care location. Root said the family has been told “the district won't or the district doesn't” provide certain options she had requested.

Root cited the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in arguing that transportation affects her son's access to a free appropriate public education. She said she did not expect a resolution that night but asked the board to “seriously consider the impact this has on families like ours and make changes in the future.”

Ending: Root asked the board to consider policy or administrative steps to ensure medically fragile students can access transportation that allows them to attend school and for staff to explore inter‑district transportation arrangements where appropriate.