ATHENS, Ala. — An Athens City Schools student with special needs was dropped off at the wrong bus stop and his family is asking, "How did this happen?"
Levi Hasting, father of Raylin Hasting, explained in a now-viral social media post what he believes happened. We spoke to Hasting to learn more.
"You know we we took all the proper precautions we made sure that he had a note and his backpack we called the school and let him know he was gonna be riding the bus. I mean we did everything we could." Raylin Hasting, Levi's son, is a 5-year-old at Athens Elementary. He is autistic and non-verbal. Levi expected his son to be dropped off at his bus stop, just a short walk from his home in Athens.
Instead, Raylin was found a mile away from his home by a maintenance worker at an apartment complex. His father doesn't understand how this happened. "In order to be on the special education bus at Athens you have to have an IEP in place and his IEP has yet to be completed. Now again, I'm not angry with the school for this this. I'm not blaming them. But the IEP should've been completed sooner, 'cause I mean, you can have five minute conversation with him and you can tell he's not a, you know normal five-year-old for lack of better time, a neurotypical five-year-old. Idon't see any reason why he shouldn't be on the special ed bus as it is."
An individual education plan, or IEP lays out the special education instruction, supports, and services a student needs to thrive in school. And according to the Alabama School Bus Driver Handbook, if a student requires any type of special accommodations while on the regular bus, the student's IEP will indicate that transportation is a "related service" and will specify exactly what is needed.
We reached out to Athens City Schools about this incident and are still awaiting a reply.