Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Thursday that the city is increasing training for school bus drivers and beginning daily safety audits in the wake of the death of a 5-year-old child who was struck and killed by a school bus in April.
Lens Joseph, was killed by a bus in Hyde Park after being dropped off at his stop.
“There are no words that can capture the pain of losing a child,” Wu said at a press conference in Roxbury. “As a mom, I am devastated that this happened.” And as mayor, she added, “I take seriously my responsibility and our collective charge to ensure that this never happens again.”
According to Wu, the driver of the bus that struck Joseph had an expired certification and “should not have been on the road.”
Natasha Tidwell, an independent reviewer, conducted an investigation for the city of the safety protocols for school buses. Her report released Thursday recommends that the city and its bus contractor Transdev have more safety audits and document reviews and increase the number of trainers for drivers by almost 40%.
The new school year is slated to begin in a week with 800 drivers in the system transporting about 20,000 students.
Superintendent Mary Skipper said all drivers on the road currently have valid and up-to-date licenses and certifications.
Skipper also said Transdev has been cooperative and willing to implement all recommendations from the investigation.
Dan Rosengard, Executive Director of BPS Transportation said “Our entire team took this to heart. This should never have happened. The report today is an important step, but it is not the first step.”
He said that in the days following the incident, BPS had already started to make changes – including scheduling a standing meeting every morning to discuss the prior day’s accidents as well as review all operations.
Skipper said “We really just need everybody focused on student safety at all levels.”
Wu said there is also a separate investigation still ongoing into the specific details of the fatal incident.
