October 1, 2003
Scott driven to find vans
Federal guidelines hamper Adult Work Center transportation
By Gretchen Murray
Special to the Herald
Bill Scott is looking for a few good vans - and he's hoping members of the community will help him in his search.
Scott considers himself a grandparent-advocate for the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District's Adult Work Center. The center is an educational facility for adults 16- to 26-years old with developmental disabilities.
His grandson Chris attends the center, and Scott has first-hand knowledge of the importance of getting the students out and about.
"Some of the students have physical limitations, some are developmentally disabled, but they all need exposure to the community," Scott said.
However, new legislation has made that a logistics problem for the center this year.
"Prior to this fall, the staff used to drive students to the mall or grocery stores or fast food restaurants to help them learn life skills," said Diana Glaesmer-Hawn, supervisor of the Adult Work Center. "But the insurance companies have determined that the liability is too great for our teachers and aids to continue to use their own vehicles, so we can no longer do that."
The insurance companies are requiring school personnel to obtain a chauffeur's license if they continue to use their own vehicles, Scott noted.
Coupled with that is the fact that the federal government has determined the 1- to 15- passenger vans previously used as public transportation vehicles to be unsafe, and that is pretty much leaving the students stranded Scott said.
"The school does have three 7-passenger vans that do meet the requirements," Scott said. Doing the math he calculates that with 130 special needs students attending the center more than 100 are left behind, while a small percentage are able to go out into the community.
Since the school does not have a Parent-Teacher Organization, Scott is single-handedly trying to come up with about seven late model 7-passenger vans. He has named the project Vans for Kids.
So far he has talked to local car dealers as well as churches and charities. But he also would like to see the project become a community initiative.
"The market for used vehicles is soft right now, and we hope that individuals will consider donating their used vans to the center and take a tax deduction rather than trade in the vehicle," Scott said. Ideally he wants to find vans 1997 or later with less than 100,000 miles on them.
Scott offered several suggestions about ways people might consider getting involved in the project.
Besides donating their vehicle directly to TBA-ISD, individuals also may want to consider selling their used van to their church then allow the church to make the donation. If they just want to help even in a small way, they can make a donation to the school that would go toward the purchase of a vehicle or to a repair fund.
Scott knows the project is quite an undertaking, but he is pleased that there seems to be some interest, and he is optimistic that he will be successful.
"It never hurts to ask," he said.
Those wishing to donate a used van to the TBA-ISD Adult Work Center can call Bill Scott, 313-6505 or the school, 922-6357. To make a monetary donation to the Vans for Kids program, send contributions to TBA-ISD, P.O. Box 6020, Traverse City, MI 49686-6020, Attn. Vans for Kids.