DPS buses on track again
Drivers staged sickout after scrap with parent left them feeling “thrown under the bus”
The head of the union representing Denver Public Schools’ bus drivers said Thursday that the drivers felt the district’s superintendent unfairly blamed them after a parent tussled with a driver last month — but they hope a more productive dialogue is starting.
Some bus routes were delayed Wednesday after about 18% of drivers called in sick, but they were back on schedule Thursday.
John Adams, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1563, said the union discouraged the sickout, but some drivers were upset because of statements Superintendent Susana Cordova made after the incident.
“The drivers felt they were, for lack of a better term, thrown under the bus,” he said.
Adams said he appreciated that Cordova participated in a dialogue with the drivers Wednesday that addressed many of their concerns. The union will continue working with the district to look at transportation policies, because the Sept. 18 incident was something no one expected to deal with, he said.
The incident began when the driver of a bus from Denver Green School Northfield stopped in the 2900 block of Kearney Street because of unruly students on Sept. 18. The students then notified their parents, who gathered near the bus. Students were screaming and one reported inappropriate touching, although that claim was found to be false.
One parent boarded the bus and punched the driver, according to Denver police, although some witnesses said she defended herself after the driver assaulted her in an attempt to remove her from the bus.
It’s standard procedure to pull over if students are loud enough that the driver can’t hear the dispatch radio, and usually the bus goes on without incident after
students calm down, Adams said.
The district’s policy is that students can’t get off except at designated stops, because of safety concerns and that parents aren’t allowed on without prior permission.
While the public may not understand the rule, he said, there has been a case of a parent attempting to confront a child on a bus, and the driver has no way of knowing if there might be other issues like a parent custody battle.
“You don’t know if they’re friend or foe,” he said.
Michael Vaughn, the district’s chief communications officer, said 20 to 25 routes were delayed at the most difficult point Wednesday, after some drivers called in sick to protest the handling of the fight on a bus last month.
The district runs about 850 routes, and those that were delayed were running about 20 minutes behind, he said.
Most delays occurred in the afternoon, when more drivers called out. DPS reported that 26 drivers, out of 242 total, were out on Wednesday morning, and 47 didn’t come to work Wednesday afternoon.
The sickout came after Denver District Attorney Beth McCann decided not to prosecute a parent for the Sept. 18 fight with a bus driver.
McCann said the mother believed she needed to protect her child, and the driver and a DPS bus monitor also were attempting to do the right thing.
Cordova issued a statement after a meeting with drivers Wednesday evening apologizing for comments she made about the incident that drivers felt were unsupportive.
It’s important to work with families to create a safe environment but also to follow the rule that only students and staff members can be on buses, unless a parent has special permission, she said.
“I want to apologize to them for not sufficiently acknowledging the complexity of their jobs and showing support and appreciation for the work they do to serve our students and families. That, of course, was not my intention,” she said. “I expressed genuine concern about what happened but did so in a way that made our team members feel unsupported. I’m very sorry for that, and I will learn from it.”