Four Hour Round-Trip School Bus Ride Leaves Disabled L.I. Girl In Tears

NORTH WOODMERE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- How long is too long for a school bus ride?

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, one disabled girl has a ride home that's two hours long, and it has been leaving her in tears.

Nothing comes easy for Evie Feintuch, 6. She is learning to walk and eat, and cannot yet speak.

Evie is a triplet born with complications, and now, just getting to and from school is a struggle.

"We are forcing her to stay on a bus so ridiculously long," said Evie's father, Eric Feintuch. "When she comes home, she's wet; she's crying."

Evie's trip home from her special needs school is nearly two hours long, and sometimes longer.

"It makes me sick," Feintuch said. "Every day, I don't know what time she is going to come home."

The Lawrence School District -- as all districts -- is required to provide busing for private and special needs schools. Evie's school in Seaford is nearly 20 miles away.

The bus picks her up at 2:20 p.m., then picks up kids in Massapequa, a dismissal 40 minutes later -- getting Evie home to North Woodmere so late that she misses needed therapy.

"I gave them every opportunity to be responsive and responsible, and they chose not to answer me in any way," Eric Feintuch said.

The bus company said the route is not its decision.

"It's all decided by the school district," said Michael Monk, of the Independent Coach Corporation. "We're under contract to the school district, and they provide us with the routes; the way they want them done."

The cost of bus transportation is especially high in Lawrence, where so many children attend private and parochial school. Feintuch said he understands budget constraints, but four hours on a bus each day for a disabled child is unreasonable.

"They're choosing to have a child with no voice to say we are saving money -- here is a good way for us to save money," Feintuch said.

The district superintendent declined comment, citing confidentiality laws, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.

According to state education law, there is no maximum time limit on the school bus. Depending on circumstances, one-way trips of up to 1 1/2 hours have been ruled "not necessarily excessive," but Evie's trip is even longer.