In a joint letter Friday Howard County school Superintendent Bill Barnes and Board of Education Chair Jolene Mosley said the school system is conducting an investigation with the Howard County Police Department, Linwood Center administrators, and a local bus contractor, after a school bus attendant was charged with assaulting two nonverbal girls.

“This is deeply disturbing news, and we echo our community’s feelings of disgust and disappointment that a trusted adult would harm any child in this way, particularly a child with a disability. We are appalled whenever we hear reports of child abuse, but the nature of these allegations makes this situation especially troubling,” the statement from Barnes and Mosley said.

Police said Thursday that Albert William Rice Jr., 80, of Laurel, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree sex offense after he struck two 13-year-old nonverbal girls while working as a contracted bus attendant for the Linwood Center, a nonpublic program serving students with autism.

The bus driver reported the incident to the bus contractor, the letter said, then school system staff viewed video footage from the bus and contacted Child Protective Services.

Rice was “disqualified” from his position pending the results of the police investigation, according to the letter. The district’s special education department is working to provide support for students and families, collaborating with the Autism Society of Maryland and the Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee. All contracted bus drivers and attendants undergo background checks, fingerprinting and training on child sexual abuse and assault, as all HCPSS employees do, the letter said. The staff is also trained to properly use safety equipment found on specialized buses.

All staff members are legally required to report any suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. According to the letter, the Linwood Center provides training on autism, incident reporting protocols and behavior intervention plans to transportation workers.

“We have no tolerance for any adult who harms a child in our school communities or contracted vehicles,” the letter read.

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