Suit: Dist. 300, bus company negligent in school bus attack

The mother of a special needs student at Dundee Middle School is suing Community Unit District 300 and its busing company, saying both were negligent in allowing a student to attack the girl on a school bus last October.

The suit, recently filed in Kane County by Cilvia Solis, seeks damages of more than $50,000 from the district and Durham School Service, the bus company.

Attorney Jeffrey Deutschmann said the girl suffered a broken leg during an attack on a bus on Oct. 15, 2010.

“Because of my client’s disability, it’s impossible to know who was involved and how it occurred,” Deutschmann said. “Something bad happened on that bus. The bus driver knows or should know what happened and they (Dunham and District 300) are covering it up.”

The case is due in court Jan. 5.

Neither District 300 nor Durham School Service, which also does business as National Express Corp. out of Warrenville, responded to repeated requests for comment.

According to the suit, the girl, who was in sixth grade at the time, was “kicked, pushed, hit and otherwise physically assaulted by other students on the bus. At no time was a school bus attendant provided to the bus in question.”

The suit says it was the district’s duty to ensure the student was safe and should have provided a bus attendant because “several of the other students riding that bus had a history of violence.”

According to a West Dundee police report obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the parents of a special needs student at Dundee Middle School filed a “personal injury” report about the Oct. 15 case four days afterward.

Authorities redacted statements made by the parents, along with interviews police did with four school officials. No arrests were made, according to the report.