LITTLETON, Colo. — Amid a police investigation into alleged abuse on a school bus, the Littleton Public Schools Board of Education is considering changes to its bus safety program.
With images of her son's injuries blown up on poster boards at Thursday night’s school board meeting, Jessica Vestal demanded the district do a better job protecting students.
“This is my child’s body,” she said, showing bruises on her son Dax’s arms.
Vestal’s son, who has autism and is nonverbal, was seen on video being hit repeatedly by paraprofessional Kiarra Jones while riding the school bus on his way to the Joshua School in Englewood. Jones, 29, faces multiple charges, including third-degree assault.
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School board documents show some of the proposed changes to bus surveillance, including increasing video retention time from five to 10 days and requiring random audits, especially on buses of students with special needs.
After asking to take her husband's three minutes at the podium to tell the board why the proposed bus surveillance policy falls short, the board cut Vestal off as the crowd urged her to keep going.
Vestal and other parents of nonverbal students said the proposed changes aren’t good enough. They want the video saved until it’s viewed, no matter how long.
“I think it should be saved until it's watched. And once it's watched and nothing has happened on the video, then you can delete it,” said Vestal.
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In a letter to parents, Superintendent Todd Lambert said, “Although policy updates typically require two readings before changes are implemented, LPS staff have already begun the work to conduct the reviews, pending formal approval at the board's May 22nd meeting…”
Additionally, the district’s transportation department has plans to enhance cameras and recording systems on buses to ensure coverage.
In Thursday's meeting, there were also discussions of a live feed for the most vulnerable students and looking into the cost of that.
“This happened to our kids, I’m positive it's happened to other kids. And the only reason it's allowed to continue is because no one's sitting down to watch,” said Vestal.
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