UPDATE:
SPOKANE, Wash. – Eighteen bus drivers from Spokane Public Schools are positive for COVID-19 with an additional 18 exposed.
KHQ spoke with two mothers who both wanted to remain anonymous, but they said they feel like COVID guidelines aren’t always followed on school buses and don’t think the Durham staff considered safety.
One mother who has two kids that ride the bus to SPS schools, says while their bus driver is not in quarantine, their bus is now filled with students from other buses.
“From what we were told at the beginning of the year, it just goes against all the safety procedures that were going to be put in place, that helped me feel safe as a parent that I was making the right choice for my kids to take the bus,” said the mother.
Another mother reached out to KHQ via email and said she received a call from contact tracers saying her son, a fourth-grader at Hamblen, had been exposed to COVID-19 on his school bus. He’s now at home until March 5th, which she says is making an already difficult year, even tougher.
She also says social distancing recommendations are being ignored. She said in her email to us, “They want us to believe that every safety precaution is being implemented in our schools and that our students are safe. How do I believe that?”
The other mother echoes that sentiment.
“They had no plan, and they just threw all these other kids on this bus and all the safety went out the window.”
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
SPOKANE, Wash. – Eighteen bus drivers from Spokane Public Schools are positive for COVID-19 with an additional 18 exposed.
Durham Bus Services said they are contracting substitute bus drivers to fill in.
Durham is working with SPS to make as minimal of an impact as possible on students.
KHQ has reached out to Spokane Public Schools about how this is impacting them.
They sent us this statement:
“Durham School Services has informed the district of the positive COVID-19 cases among their Spokane staff members, and reported that these cases originated outside of the workplace. At this time, there are no indications that transmission occurred on school buses. SPS is continuing to work with the Spokane Regional Health District on contact tracing within our district and will provide updates to SPS families as soon as they become available.”
It is not yet clear how the bus drivers got COVID-19.
