Littleton parents want more answers, action after alleged abuse on school bus
Parents of students in Littleton Public Schools want more answers from the school district after the recent arrest of a school bus aide. An incident was caught on video allegedly showing the suspect punching a 10-year-old student with autism. At least three students say they have been hurt by the aide being investigated.
The LPS board met on Thursday evening, and parents were expected to voice more concerns to school board members. Some parents are saying the school district has failed their children.
One parent CBS News Colorado spoke with is also a district employee with a special needs child. He said he wants more accountability, actions and answers from the district.
"Be more transparent. Listen to the parents. Know our concerns, and just communicate more," said the parent, who wants to remain anonymous.
The parent is also close to the situation. He said he's thankful for the transparency with his child's teacher, and he feels safe having his child with them, but the incident still hits close to home.
"It's hard because, having a child with special needs, you know what these parents are going through," the parent explained.
His main concern is the lack of immediate action from the school district following what happened, and not providing answers to parents.
"Why it took days for a very weak statement to come out, I just want honesty and transparency and action, and so far, there's been none," the parent said.
Since the news came out in early April, Littleton Public Schools and Todd Lambert, the district Superintendent, has released three statements. The first statement was acknowledging the arrest and investigation and stated, "This kind of behavior cannot be and is not tolerated. As parents, you trust us with the well-being of your children and you should never have to worry about them being harmed when they are in our care."
The second statement acknowledged trust between families and the district being strained, and questions from parents about how the district prepares paraprofessionals and drivers to meet the students' needs. It also stated every paraprofessional the district hires must pass a thorough background check and receive several weeks of specialized training.
"I have knowledge of what the paraprofessionals go through when they're hired and from what I've seen, there is no training for those paraprofessionals," the parent said.
CBS Colorado asked the school district about the specialized training for paraprofessionals, but there was no response.
Then in a third statement to parents, Lambert clarified his previous statement and said, "LPS transportation paraprofessionals complete training that helps them best serve the needs of the students. The training occurs when they are first hired and is ongoing. I should have been more clear that the training I was referencing was for transportation paraprofessionals and not necessarily all LPS paraprofessionals."
"Both working for the district and having a special needs child, I kind of see this from both sides, and I see that there is a need for change," the parent said.
Moving forward, this parent and district employee hopes for better hiring practices, more audits of bus footage and more policies to protect kids who don't have a voice.
"These kids have no voices, and someone needs to be their voice, and I feel the school district failed by letting this happen to a very vulnerable population," the parent said. "Without systemic change, I am a little nervous if something happens. There are a lot of questions right now, and they're not providing any answers."
After multiple requests for comment and an interview with Littleton Public Schools, a spokesperson with the district said they're respectfully declining a request for an interview because the case is an ongoing police investigation.
The third statement from Lambert, also went on to say, "We have been communicating with the families closest to this issue, but we have not been communicating with all of you, and we should be. While trying to strike a balance between communication and supporting a criminal investigation, we came up short and did not meet the standard of communication you have come to expect from LPS. We will do better moving forward."
