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Parent alleges repeated busing failures for his children with disabilities, cites state law
Summary
During public comment, parent Sean Kavanaugh told the school committee his five-year-old twin daughters with disabilities have routinely been late to school or not transported on schedule since January 14 and accused the district of failing to comply with a Department of Education consent order and state statutory duties.
During public comment at the South Kingstown School Committee meeting, parent Sean Kavanaugh said his five-year-old twin daughters with disabilities have faced repeated transportation failures and alleged the district was not meeting its legal obligations.
Kavanaugh said the girls “continue to be treated as second class students in this district because of their disabilities” and told the committee that “not a single one of you sitting at the table reached out after the last meeting and nothing has changed.” He said the children have failed to be in their classrooms at the start of the instructional day “every single day save one” since Jan. 14 and described both morning pickups and end-of-day bus shortages. Kavanaugh also said the bus route involved other special-needs students, including “one of their peers in a wheelchair.”
He quoted statutory language in his remarks, asking the committee whether it believed it was complying with Rhode Island law. Kavanaugh quoted Rhode Island General Law 16-2-9(a): “to provide transportation for transportation services that meet or exceed standards of the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education,” and he referenced R.I. Gen. Laws §16-2-9.1 (the code of basic management principles and ethical school standards) and asked whether the committee’s “first and greatest concern” was the educational welfare of the students he described.
The committee chair responded that the public comment period does not allow for dialogue and that the committee could not answer at that time, and Kilpatrick later acknowledged the committee had heard the remarks. Kavanaugh told the committee he would return “in two weeks.”
Nut graf: The parent’s statements raise questions about the district’s transportation reliability for students with disabilities and cite state statutory duties; the meeting record shows no immediate committee action in response beyond hearing the comments.
Ending: The transcript records the statements and the committee’s procedural response; any specific follow-up (investigation, corrective steps or written response) was not recorded in the meeting transcript.
