School Committee hears fallout from bus driver indictment

Two weeks ago, a Newton bus driver was indicted for abducting three very young special needs students.

On Monday night, an attorney representing the family of one of the victims showed up at the Newton School Committee meeting.

“I’m here to emphasize that this situation was preventable and not enough is being done now in Newton to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Wendy Murphy, attorney and New England School of Law professor, said to the committee during the meeting’s public comment portion.

Justin Vose, 42, of Bedford, is charged with three counts of kidnapping after police say he drove three young Early Childhood Program students—between the ages of 3 and 5—to a secluded part of a parking lot in May.

Police found photos of the kids on Vose’s phone. The children have difficulty with communication, and it’s unclear what Vose was doing with them in that parking lot.

Newton uses JSC Transportation for its buses, but JSC only puts driver applicants through a criminal background check and sex offender registry check, which Murphy said is insufficient.

“The vast majority of people who harm children have no criminal records at all and are not on the sex offender registry,” Murphy said. “Ninety percent of adults who harm children are never arrested, much less prosecuted, convicted or placed on a sex offender registry.”

Murphy urged tougher screening for drivers that focus on employment history and motivation for working with children.

“Experts in the field have developed effective tools for screening out applicants that pose a risk of harm to children regardless of criminal history,” she said. “Newton should require them.”

Murphy then pointed out that, until the incident with Vose, cameras on a bus would shut off when the engine was off. Now, the cameras stay on for 15 minutes after the engine is turned off, but Murphy said that’s not good enough either.

They shut off after 15 minutes because having them on when the engine is off drains the bus’s battery.

Murphy noted that there were no cameras on JSC buses for many years and asked if there was an incident that prompted them to add cameras.

“The man who was indicted in this case worked for JSC for 12 years. For how many years did he have access to children without any cameras on his buses?” Murphy asked. “Parents of all children exposed to this man have a right and a need to know.”

West Newton parent Jessie Champion spoke about the indictment as well, calling out the district for waiting several days before putting out a statement regarding the situation and not reaching out to parents whose kids have been alone with Vose.

“When I personally asked the Police Department why the follow-up was not done with children who have ridden with Mr. Vose in the past, I was told that NPS provided them a list of all families affected, and thus they thought they had followed up with everyone,” Champion said.

“How did NPS determine which families were affected?” she continued. “One of my kids rode with him last year, and I’ve heard from lots of other families in the same position, and none of us were notified.”

School Committee Chair Chris Brezski said he understood why parents and others in the community are upset about the Vose incident.

“I know for pretty much everyone in the community, whether you have a kid who takes special education van services or not, this is a pretty jarring incident for everyone in the community, and it kind of takes the ground out from underneath you, in terms of what you thought you knew and what it meant to be safe.,” he said.

Brezski added that the investigation is a police matter and members of the School Committee don’t know anything that’s not public.

Superintendent Anna Nolin said that she and district leaders are open to suggestions on improving safety for all Newton students but there’s no way to predict when someone is going to do something bad.

There are a limited number of transportation vendors the district can choose from, Nolin noted.

“That said, we can always do better,” she said. “And we’re working with our partners to do that.”

Nolin also stressed that police do not update school officials on investigations, so there was nothing about the investigation for the district to share with the community.

“We have a community in crisis, and we want to respond to that crisis,” she said. “Certainly, we have all been shaken by this situation.”