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BoE seeks upgrade of charter bus procedures

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@thecitizennews.com

The Fayette County Board of Education will consider adopting guidelines for leasing charter buses for school trips after an investigation by an Atlanta TV station raised serious safety questions about one bus company.

The report last week by WAGA-TV Fox 5 revealed that J.T. Charters of Atlanta transported a group of Fayette Middle School eighth graders on a trip to Savannah in March using drivers who were uninsured and unlicensed.

Additionally, one of the drivers on the trip was wanted by police on an outstanding felony warrant. The driver has since been arrested and is now in jail.

Dana Fowle of the Fox 5 I-Team also told of an elite youth soccer team from Cobb County that rented from J.T. Charters last spring for a trip to Texas, only to have the bus burst into flames alongside a Louisiana interstate.

Though all the passengers escaped unharmed, J.T. Charters has refused to reimburse the team for its loss of possessions, Fowle reported.

Currently, the Fayette County school system doesn’t have any policy in place for hiring charter bus companies, said Melinda Berry-Driesbach, spokeswoman for the district.

“After what was brought to our attention by the Fox 5 investigation, we know it will be in the best interest of our students if we do implement some guidelines,” Berry-Driesbach said. “That’s not to say it’s going to be fool-proof and that nothing would ever happen, but we can at least put up some safeguards for our students.”

Berry-Driesbach said Fayette Middle School contracted initially with Kingsman Coach, who then subbed-out the job to J.T.

Surprisingly, there is little regulation of the charter bus industry in the state, Fowle said. Because most bus companies operate across state lines, federal authorities provide primary oversight.

“It’s not regulated well, no,” said Fowle, adding she turned over all her findings to state and federal officials.

As a result of the Fox 5 report, J.T. Charters is currently under investigation and could face fines or be put out of business completely, Fowle said.

Berry-Driesbach said the job of hiring charter companies to transport students has always fallen to individual teachers or school principals, and until now they’ve had few guidelines to go by. Schools or parent groups are responsible for the cost. Fayette County’s transportation department plays no role in the process.

She said the state Department of Motor Vehicles provides a list of approved charter companies that have gone through a licensing process, but there’s no way of knowing for sure whether a company is fully insured or has reputable, licensed drivers.

J.T. Charters is on the state’s approved list, Berry-Driesbach said.

“If the bus company says that they have safe buses, they have qualified drivers who are licensed and have the proper credentials, what else can you do?” she asked. “It’s just like when you go to Delta and buy a ticket and get on a plane, you take for granted these people know what they are doing.”

Berry-Driesbach said she sent out a request last week to school districts across Georgia to find out if any others have policies in place regarding bus rentals.

“We may have to invent the wheel, but we don’t want to have to if there is another policy out there we can piggyback onto,” she said.

At some point, Berry-Driesbach predicted, Superintendent John DeCotis will draft a formal policy on charter services and bring it to the Board of Education for consideration.

In the meantime, Fowle recommended school groups that have plans to charter buses this year demand to see proof that drivers are licensed, as well as copies of bus inspections and insurance papers.