Boston city councilors push for review of BPS drivers after bus kills 5-year-old boy
Two city councilors are demanding that Boston’s public school district provide answers around its hiring, training and certification practices for bus drivers after a 5-year-old boy was killed by a school bus last month.
Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy plan to introduce an “order for a hearing to review the hiring, training, and compliance certification” of Boston Public Schools bus drivers at Wednesday’s meeting.
“The safety of Boston’s children is non-negotiable,” Flynn and Murphy’s order states. “As elected officials, we must act with urgency to address the systemic failures that contributed to this tragedy and take meaningful steps to ensure that it never happens again. We owe it to the young boy who lost his life, his family, and every family who relies on BPS transportation.”
The measure sets the Council to take up the matter just days after the involved BPS driver, Jean Charles, a Transdev employee since May 2023, resigned after he was suspended for the crash that killed 5-year-old Lens Arthur Joseph in Hyde Park.
“Prior to the accident, the same driver reportedly struck two parked cars in Mattapan, raising immediate concerns about the city’s oversight of school bus operations,” Flynn and Murphy wrote. “It was subsequently revealed that the bus driver was operating with an expired school bus certificate and had a record of prior collisions earlier that day.
“These facts are deeply troubling and demand an immediate and transparent investigation into the events that led to this fatal incident, including the driver’s history, actions and the decisions that allowed them to remain behind the wheel.”
The councilors added that the “tragedy underscores the urgent need to conduct a thorough review of the hiring and monitoring practices used by Transdev, the city’s contracted school bus company, including how drivers are screened, trained, certified, and supervised to ensure they meet the highest safety standards before transporting children.”
Per the order, Boston Public Schools provides daily transportation to roughly 22,000 students, whose families entrust the district with their children’s safety.
Related Articles
Josh Kraft pushes Mayor Wu to reveal cabinet chief’s ‘role’ in Boston City Hall dispute
Councilor Flynn calls for Economic Opportunity and Inclusion chief’s resignation
Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was $19K in debt at time of $7K kickback
Boston Mayor Wu launches campaign effort to get her preferred city councilor on ballot
Battenfeld: Buck stops with Mayor Wu on deadly bus accident
Flynn and Murphy are asking that the city evaluate and strengthen its existing real-time safety protocols “by implementing enhanced measures to monitor driver behavior, report incidents promptly, and identify and address any misconduct or violations before they result in harm.”
They are planning to seek testimony at a future hearing from representatives of the Boston Public Schools and its transportation department, along with Transdev officials.
The councilors’ aim for the hearing is to “ensure that only qualified, properly certified, and closely monitored drivers are allowed to operate school buses.”
