NJ Special Needs Children Will Gain Bus Safety Features Under New Bill

CRANFORD, NJ — Cranford mother Jennifer Love has been advocating for the passage of "Emma's Law," a bill that requires additional safety features on school buses for special needs children, since 2018.

The legislation was finally advanced on Wednesday by two NJ senators, according to a recent announcement.

Senator Kristin Corrado and Senator Jon Bramnick are sponsoring the legislation, S-57, that would require any school vehicle with one or more special needs students to be equipped with a video camera inside the bus, a GPS providing information about the location and speed of each school bus in real time and two-way communication equipment.

The bill is named after Love's daughter, now 20-year-old Emma, who had a disastrous experience years ago where a bus she was on was lost in Camden for five hours.

Emma attended The Children's Center of Monmouth County in Neptune and a change in the transportation provider placed Love at odds with the company. Love told Patch it disturbed her that buses are not equipped with surveillance cameras and GPS tracking, as well as an open line of communication to parents.

Love told Patch in 2019 that when a student goes to an out-of-district school, transportation is paid for by the district and arrange through the Union County Education System. She said this system leaves families at the mercy of whatever bus company bids the lowest and whatever policies they have in place for communication.

Read more: Cranford Mother Needs Help To Advocate For Autistic Youth

As her child is non-verbal, Love said her daughter does not have a voice, whereas other children are able to communicate for themselves.

"When you call an Uber, you get a text message with the resume and name as well as a photo of the driver," Love told Patch. "Should we not have at least that for the people we are entrusting our most vulnerable and precious children?"

Love was encouraging constituents to call the NJ Speaker of the General Assembly Craig Coughlin back in 2019 and demand for Emma's Law to be passed.

Now in 2022, Senators Corrado and Bramnick have decided to advance the bill.

“As Legislators, we must always remain focused on the safety and well-being of students,” said Bramnick (R-21), who initially sponsored the legislation in the Assembly in 2019. “Students with special needs require unique considerations and solutions. The crucial upgrades mandated by this bill can be completed reasonably, and the benefits can be unfathomable.”

According to SenateNJ.com, Emma attended the meeting on Wednesday with her mother where the Senators said they would be advancing the bill.

The complete outline of Emma's Law can be viewed here.