Parent says special education student arriving late to school because of late school bus service
A Salton City mother says the school bus has been late just about every day since the semester began, and says her son is missing critical time during his first period pre-algebra class.
The student is a 7th grader at Cahuilla Desert Academy in Coachella where the mascot spreads its wings.
Amari Kariotis says she wants her son, 12-year-old Seth Gray to also spread his wings.
“He is smart, he is witty and very creative and has an imagination that goes all day long,” said Kariotis.
The Kariotis family home is in Salton City, which is about a 40-minute drive from the middle school.
The mother of five says her son, who has behavioral issues because of developmental delay, is supposed to be picked up every morning by 7:50.
But she says the bus often arrives between 8:15 and 8:25, and not delivering the child to the campus until after classes begin at 9:05..
“I just can’t see how they can break a promise .to get him to school on time like this,” said the mother.
She says she has complained about the late bus service to the Coachella Valley Unified School District, including several emails and phone calls with the district’s director of transportation.
She also suspects other families in the district might be having the same problem.
“Today i took him out to the bus and the driver looked at me and said, oh you’re going to call the school again and turn me in, and I said no, I’m going to go a different route.” said the mother.
Kariotis says she simply wants the district to honor the “Individual Education Plan” which Seth signed before the semester began, by simply getting him to school on time.
News Channel 3 spoke with a district representative by phone, and sent an email to the district superintendent Dr. Maria Gandera requesting a response to the mother’s complaint.
We have not yet received a response.
KESQ
