Marysville School District yanks bus driver from terminally ill student’s route
Jan 24, 2018, 5:43 AM
(File, Associated Press)
(File, Associated Press)
Nineteen-year-old Tawna Decker suffers from juvenile Huntington disease. She attends school in the Marysville School District. Though her condition is worsening, there was one part of her life that continued to bring her joy, her bus ride to school.
Bus driver Stuart McNabb, who also happened to be the Decker’s neighbor, was the man responsible for making those bus rides fun.
“When we first moved to Marysville a couple years ago, we were assigned Stuart,” Tawna’s mother Terrie Decker told 770 KTTH’s Jason Rantz. “My daughter just fell in love with him because he was just so happy. He was a jolly man.”
Earlier this month, the Marysville School District removed McNabb from Tawna’s route.
Over winter break, Terrie posted on Facebook that they could use some help moving. Because McNabb is Facebook friends with Tawna, he offered to help.
“He was just helping us move,” Terrie said. “It was an innocent thing.”
The district learned of this interaction and determined it violated policy. Terrie tried to fight the decision but to no avail.
“They were saying, well, you can’t be giving out your personal information to a family even if they are friends or anything like that,” Terrie said. “I was like, are you kidding me? That’s ridiculous.”
In a statement, acting superintendent Jason Thompson said, “We did not take this matter lightly and made the decision based on what we felt was in the best interest and safety of the child. Going forward, we have also arranged for additional accommodations to further support this child.”
By Terrie’s account, the additional accommodations provided by the district took the form of two people accompanying Tawna to school in the morning instead of one. She said they’d much rather have McNabb back.
“He brought her happiness,” Terrie said. “He joked with her, teased her. Now she goes to school with two people that are totally quiet.”
The thing that further exacerbates Terrie’s frustration is the fact that her daughter’s time is limited.
“My daughter is 19 and dying,” Terrie said. “She’s just asking for a simple request and I don’t see why there’s any reason they can’t fulfill that.”
Follow @https://twitter.com/jakerummel
-
Tune in to Seattle Red AM 770 weekdays at 3-7pm to The Jason Rantz Show.
