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When temperatures shot up over 100 degrees this summer, most people escaped the sweltering heat in air conditioning. But for Frederick County students who rode school buses this summer, that was not always an option.

Elizabeth Shannon's autistic son, for example, was travelling for nearly two hours every day on a school bus without air conditioning this summer, even when the temperatures outside reached record highs.

Shannon's son attends an out-of-county 11-month special needs program in Owings Mills.

"It is ridiculous," said Shannon, a Frederick resident and one of about a half-dozen parents who are asking county school officials to install air-conditioning on their children's buses.

"I do believe that every bus should have AC, especially the special needs buses," Shannon said.

Most school buses in Frederick County — including those for students with special needs — do not have air conditioning. The school system's policy does not mandate buying air-conditioned buses, so only 16 or 17 of the 442 buses in the system are equipped with air conditioning.

Under the current policy, even if a bus does have an air cooling system bus drivers cannot use it unless a child on board shows a doctor's note confirming a medical need for air conditioning. Once that child gets off the bus, bus drivers are required to turn off the air conditioner.

While school officials defend this policy, saying that it allows them to treat all students equitably, some parents of special needs students see things differently. They say riding an air-conditioned bus in record heat should not require a doctor's note and are vowing to publicize the issue until they get school officials to change the policy.

"Our ultimate goal is to have all the special needs buses be retrofitted with air conditioning. This is a health issue," said Cindy Rose, a parent from Knoxville who also has a child with special needs in the system.

The most pressing need is for special education buses, because the majority of Frederick County students who attend classes in the summer have special needs, Rose said.

According to Frederick County school officials however, equipping school buses with air conditioning is easier said than done.

Hal Keller, the school system fiscal services director who oversees transportation, said it would cost about $4,000 to retrofit a special needs bus and about $8,000 to do the same for a regular bus. That means that the school system would need about $3 million to retrofit all 422 buses in its fleet with air conditioning, Keller said.

The school system does not have that money now, so school officials are trying to treat all students as fairly and equitably as possible, he said. That is why air conditioning is provided not for comfort, but only for medical reasons, Keller said.

"It's not a money thing," Keller said. "... The issue is equity."

The policy will remain in place unless the school board requests to review it, Keller said.

But parents see things differently. They say that if the school system can provide the superintendent and other administrators with air-conditioned vehicles, it should also be able to give special needs students air-conditioned buses.

"We want to see the policy changed," said Jamie Rose, a parent who has been trying to attract attention to the issue.

On July 22, Rose went out to measure the temperatures inside some of the school buses that Frederick County schools used this summer.

At about noon, the temperature inside a bus picking up special needs students from Gov. Thomas Johnson High School was as high as it was outside – 90 to 91 degrees. At about 2 p.m., a bus picking up children at Brunswick Elementary, was 96 to 97 degrees inside, even with 11 windows down.

For Rose, that is unacceptable.

Though his son now rides an air-conditioned bus, Rose said he is concerned for other families with special needs children in the county. Those children often have problems communicating their needs and should at least be entitled to a bus with a cooling system, Rose said.

Having air conditioning on school buses is not uncommon for school systems in Maryland, Rose said.

In Carroll County, which contracts the service, about 50 percent of buses have air conditioning. In Loudoun County, Va., 80 to 85 percent of school buses have cooling systems. In Howard County schools, 100 of the 124 buses have air conditioning, Rose said.

Rose said he hopes Frederick County school officials would review these policies and see if they can provide better accommodations for children with disabilities.

He and his wife have already sent out e-mails to school officials. Both of them also spoke to the Frederick County school board about their concerns on July 14. While they did speak briefly to some school board members, the Roses do not know yet if school board members will respond to their concerns.

But they have no intention of giving up,

"I plan to speak up again at the next board meeting," Rose said. "We are going to keep this up until they change it."

E-mail Margarita Raycheva at mraycheva@gazette.net.