October 31, 2011
By Rhonda Reed-Slaughter
Bill and Kelly Davidek know first hand the level of frustration and sheer terror a parent can face when dealing with a 3rd party transportation service.
Several years ago, First Student Corporation was hired by Valley View to transport handicapped and special needs students. The Davidek's daughter was one of those students.
One afternoon, Kelly waited patiently for her daughter to return home from school. After a few minutes of no bus or daughter, Kelly phoned Valley View to find out why her daughter was late arriving home.
She immediately called Valley View, and was told "they (VVSD) were not responsible for the transport of handicapped and special needs students." Kelly was told to "contact First Student Corporation directly."
In a panic, Kelly phoned First Student, desperate to find her daughter.
According to Kelly, the dispatcher was very rude. Kelly was told "she needed to calm down, and if she continued to act ignorant, they would hang up on her."
In a complete state of shock, Kelly soon found herself on the receiving end of a dial tone. First Student's dispatcher hung-up on her.
After several hours of sheer terror, the Davidek's were finally able to locate their daughter.
It was determined, First Student's bus driver did pick up the students, and dropped all but one. At the end of a long day, the driver returned the bus to the Romeoville hub.
It was at the Romeoville hub, when the driver was closing down for the day that he noticed a 4 year old, non-verbal autistic girl sitting on the back of the bus.
The child was immediately returned to her parents.
The Davidek's issued a formal complaint to the District, and even attended board meetings to express their concern.
Soon thereafter, Valley View took over the responsibility of transporting special needs children, and terminated its relationship with First Student Corporation.
Fast forward, several years; today, First Student Corporation has submitted the lowest bid in a proposal to provide transportation to Valley View students.
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