An Illinois state lawmaker has filed legislation calling for closer oversight of school buses following a multi-part NBC 5 Responds investigation that uncovered a fleet of uninsured, unsafe school buses transporting countless Chicago students for years.
An Illinois state lawmaker has filed legislation calling for closer oversight of school buses following a multi-part NBC 5 Responds investigation that uncovered a fleet of uninsured, unsafe school buses transporting countless Chicago students for years.
"We [have] to make sure we send a message to everybody that the safety of our children is a top priority," said Illinois State Rep. Marcus Evans.
Rep. Evans filed the legislation in early February to close several of the gaps in school bus oversight we uncovered.
The investigation started last fall, when Jacob Kusar's family reached out to NBC 5 Responds because Kusar's medical bills were mounting after a May 2024 collision with an uninsured Culvers Transportation school bus on Lake Shore Drive that changed his life forever.
"Honestly, I try my best not to think about what life was like before anymore, because it makes me sad," said Kusar.
“My mobility, my family life, my personal enjoyment taken away from me," he said. "It got my dream job taken away from me."
Despite months of reaching out, Kusar's family said Sheri Culver, the owner of Culvers Transportation, wouldn't provide them with any insurance information.
"She's taken everything from us," said Kusar's mother Sharon Kusar. "Every day it feels like more and more she just keeps taking because we keep getting charged with those bills."
Culver wouldn't hand over the insurance information because we found they didn't have any and they hadn't had any insurance for at least six months. And all the while, we found, the company was still transporting Chicago public and private school students.
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In Illinois, school buses are only required to show proof of insurance every two years in order to operate.
In November, our investigation prompted the Illinois Secretary of State to revoke the registrations for all Culvers buses, essentially ordering them off the road.
Many of Chicago public and private schools that were using the company started to distance themselves from Culvers, telling NBC 5 Responds they would no longer use the company.
Yet for weeks, our NBC 5 Responds team and our NBC Chicago viewers continued to spot Culvers school buses transporting kids. Some of the buses were even using expired license plates.
"When I saw the bus with the kids on it, I was like, that's just not right," said Diane Ireland, who contacted NBC 5 Responds after spotting two Culvers buses on the highway after their registrations were revoked.
Eventually our reporting led the Secretary of State police to file three misdemeanor charges against Culver for improper use of registration. All her license plates were confiscated as well.
No Safety Inspections for 10 years
This is where our investigation hit a turning point and a larger safety issue with these school buses – and potentially other school buses around the state – came into focus.
"It was a risk for everybody on the bus, including the driver," said a former Culvers school bus driver who asked not to be identified and we identify only as "Jane."
After our initial investigation, Jane came forward and detailed just how dilapidated and dangerous the company's school buses really were. Jane said the buses were not undergoing regular safety inspections.
"Every last one of them had an expired safety, a safety lane sticker," said Jane.
The Department of Transportation eventually confirmed it, telling NBC 5 Responds they had no record of Culvers buses undergoing any state-required bi-annual safety inspections for the past 10 years.
"All of the work that you've done kind of opening this up, exposing this, action is going to happen," said Rep. Evans after watching our investigation.
Evans' proposed bill aims to do several things, including:
- Require the Secretary of State to collect proof of insurance for all school buses in a database, updating it annually, and monitoring insurance coverage expiration dates.
- Require the Department of Transportation to collect and maintain each certificate of safety from every school bus contracted with any elementary or secondary school.
Under the bill, both the Illinois Secretary of State and Department of Transportation must develop and maintain a database of every school bus that has contracted with any elementary or secondary school in the state, including the license plate number and most recent date of inspection.
The criminal case against Sheri Culver is still going through the courts. When we reached Culver by phone, she told us all her buses were now off the road.
We'll continue to monitor the progress of this bill as it makes its way through the state legislature.
