CINCINNATI — Two days after 7-year-old Ngone Talla died after being found unresponsive on her school bus, her family is still waiting for answers about who was responsible for monitoring her and what happened during the ride home.
Ngone, a Cincinnati Public Schools student at Roselawn Condon School, was nonverbal, used a wheelchair and had developmental disabilities, according to her family.
Her father, Abdoula Talla, told WCPO 9 his daughter was healthy and happy when she went to school Wednesday morning. Her family said the bus arrived at their Northside home shortly before 5 p.m., but sat outside for 10 to 15 minutes before they were asked to come aboard.
WATCH: What happened on the bus? Questions remain after 7-year-old CPS student's death
That's when Ngone's 12-year-old sister, Marema Talla, said she found her motionless in her wheelchair.
"I checked her pulse, and she wasn't breathing," Marema said. "So I was like panicked."
Abdoula said he called 911 at approximately 5:03 p.m. Emergency dispatch recordings reviewed by WCPO show crews were sent to the family's Colerain Avenue address at 5:05 p.m. for a child in possible cardiac arrest.
But what happened before that call remains unclear.
WCPO has asked CPS when the driver or bus assistant first became aware Ngone was unresponsive and whether anyone aboard the bus called 911 before her father did.
WCPO has also asked whether the driver and assistant are under investigation and what staffing and monitoring requirements were in place on Ngone's bus.
The district has not yet answered those questions.
Father says bus assistant was unfamiliar to family
Abdoula told WCPO there was a driver and an assistant aboard his daughter's bus Wednesday. But he said the assistant was someone his family had never seen before.
The assistant who normally rode the bus with Ngone was not there that day, according to Abdoula.
WCPO has asked CPS to confirm whether the employee was new or serving as a substitute.
That question could be significant depending on what Ngone's Individualized Education Program, or IEP, required, according to Carla Leader, an Ohio attorney who specializes in education and special education law.
Leader is not involved in Ngone's case and does not know what services her IEP required. She spoke with WCPO about how federal special education requirements generally apply to transportation.
Leader said an IEP typically does not name a specific aide because schools need flexibility when an employee is sick or otherwise absent.
But changing the person providing that support does not change what the school is required to provide under a student's IEP, she said.
"That person who is in charge of that student has to know what their responsibilities are and what that student's needs are," Leader said.
Whether the employee is a substitute or someone pulled from another assignment, Leader said, the person still needs the information and training necessary to meet the student's documented needs.
What support is required on a school bus?
Leader said there is not one staffing rule that applies to every student with a disability.
Some students may have an aide who works with multiple children, while others with more significant needs may require one-on-one assistance. Those decisions can depend on a student's safety, medical, communication or educational needs and are documented through the IEP process.
Using a wheelchair or having a disability does not automatically require a one-on-one aide, Leader said.
But if a student's needs require adult monitoring or assistance during transportation, Leader said that support should be identified by the student's IEP team and provided by the district.
Transportation is considered a related service under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, she said.
"The responsibility to keep the child safe does not begin at the classroom door and end when the child gets on the bus," Leader said.
Leader said determining whether the appropriate support was provided requires looking beyond whether an adult was simply aboard the bus.
"The question is whether the right adult was present, was properly trained, was given the necessary information and was actually monitoring that student," she said.
WCPO does not know what Ngone's IEP required, whether it called for an aide during transportation or what training the employees aboard her bus had received.
Those are among the questions WCPO has asked CPS.
Investigation continues
Leader cautioned that those unanswered questions should not be taken as evidence that someone failed to follow Ngone's IEP or that her death was preventable.
"The facts have to come out first, and it's really hard not to rush to judgment before all the information comes out," Leader said.
She said an investigation would need to establish what happened medically, what supervision Ngone required, whether that support was provided and whether the adults responsible for her care were properly prepared.
"There's so many things that could have happened here," Leader said.
The Hamilton County Coroner's Office has not publicly determined what caused Ngone's death.
Cincinnati police continue to investigate. Police have not announced charges or publicly said they suspect criminal wrongdoing.
First Student, which operated the bus, previously told WCPO it is "fully cooperating with the local authorities and the Cincinnati Public School District as they conduct a thorough investigation." The company said it could not provide additional details because the investigation is active.
CPS previously said its Crisis Response Unit was supporting students and employees at Roselawn Condon School.
Meanwhile, Ngone's family is waiting to learn what happened between the time she left school and the time the bus arrived outside their home.
Abdoula said he believes someone aboard the bus should have called 911 if they realized his daughter was in distress.
"If you see any kid not moving or anything happen, I think what you're supposed to do, call 911 and try to get some help," he said.
For now, he said, what he wants most is an explanation.
"I just want to know the truth," Abdoula said.
