BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper announced the findings of an independent study into school transportation safety Thursday and said the city will adopt and implement the report’s recommendations “as quickly as possible”.
The independent review was initiated following the death of Lens Joseph, a kindergarten student struck and killed by a school bus in April.
“On behalf of the entire City and BPS, I want to express my profound condolences to Lens’s family, friends, and everyone who loved him,” Wu said in a statement. “There are no words that can capture the pain of losing a child. We are determined to make sure that a tragedy like this never happens again.”
The city has a contract with Transdev for school bus transportation; the investigation reviewed both BPS and Transdev.
“We have begun taking steps with Transdev and within our own operations to strengthen safety policies, training, and oversight, ” Skipper said. “Our commitment remains to act decisively on these recommendations and to ensure the highest standards of safety for the more than 20,000 Boston students who rely on school transportation every day.”
The changes include, among other things, increased and improved communication between parties, more thorough training for drivers, and greater transparency into drivers’ backgrounds.
In a statement, Transdev said they share the commitment “to do all we can to “ensure this never happens again.”
“We appreciated the opportunity to participate in the review of the systems, training, and safety protocols included in the report and are committed to working with our partners in the city, with the Boston Public Schools, and union representatives to continue making safety our top priority as we transport the 22,000 school children in Boston every day,” the company said. “We look forward to proving our commitment this coming year with further enhancements to our programs and processes to exceed the standards of all stakeholders.”
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