‘These are vulnerable children’: Principal raised concerns about school transport provider before boy’s death

Wednesday, 3 June 2026

An principal raised safety concerns about Ritchies Transport's special needs student service around a month before an 8-year-old boy died.

Natalie Todd says she witnessed unsafe wheelchair loading by Ritchies and warned the Ministry of Education about increased risks to vulnerable students.

Gurshabad Singh, who was on the autism spectrum, drowned after escaping the van while travelling home from school last week.

An Auckland principal says she raised “serious concerns” about the suitability of a company awarded a contract to transport special needs students, around a month before a boy from another school died after escaping a van operated by the firm.

Wairau Valley Special School principal Natalie Todd said she became alarmed by Ritchies Transport, which took over the Ministry of Education contract in April, when she witnessed a wheelchair user being, she believed, unsafely loaded into a van that was “not fit for purpose”.

“I said to [Ritchies], ‘these are not courier packages that we are transporting, these are vulnerable children’… It’s been a shit show. We, as a specialist school, don’t have a say in who the providers are,” Todd told Stuff.

Todd raised the concerns with the ministry in emails seen by Stuff, warning that Ritchies was “significantly increasing” the risk of wheelchair-using students, “particularly in the event of an accident”.

Email the reporter: laura.frykberg@stuffdigital.co.nz

In its reply, the ministry told Todd it was satisfied by Ritchies’ response to the complaint, but in order to “provide further assurance” it would conduct an “an internal audit of the fleet and assess Ritchies’ readiness”.

After hearing last week that 8-year-old Gurshabad Singh, who was on the autism spectrum, had escaped a Ritchies-operated van and drowned, Todd said her worst fears were confirmed.

“It was devastating. I feel for the principal. Nobody wants to make that call to a family. But that could have easily been me having to do that. It has totally chipped away at my confidence in Ritchies,” she said.

Police are investigating the circumstances of Singh’s death, while the coroner, WorkSafe and ministry, which funds the Specialised School Transport Assistance (SESTA) service, are also making inquiries.

Stuff put questions to Ritchies about the principal’s comments and was given the following statement: “Ritchies is cooperating with the investigations underway. Given this, it is not appropriate to comment further.”

Stuff understands the firm, owned by American investment firm, KKR, has hired a lawyer.

When asked if it still had confidence in Ritchies, the ministry would not comment on the “specifics of the case” but said it required “all SESTA providers to meet legislative and contractual safety requirements”.

“We respond to concerns raised through established processes and work with providers and schools to address any issues. SESTA contracts are awarded through an open, competitive procurement process,” it said.

Providers were assessed on a “combination of quality and price”, which was “independently overseen” to ensure transparency. Decisions were also made against “nationally consistent criteria”.

'We will consider the findings of the [police] investigation once it is complete. Any further actions will be determined in line with those findings and our contractual and legal obligations,“ it said.

The mother of a child at Wairau Valley Special School said she too complained to the ministry and Ritchies last month.

Kerry, who did not want to give her last name, said among her concerns were that Ritchies transported children in wheelchairs alongside able-bodied students who may have other conditions such as severe autism, which posed a “massive” risk.

“I'm not saying all kids that have disabilities and are mobile are violent, but their mental capacity is different to you and I. They can be triggered, they can have outbursts,” she said.

She was worried drivers did not have enough “background” on each child, or training, which meant they were “unable to respond” to different needs.

She had since removed her son from the service, opting to pay for a private taxi instead at a cost of $135 a week.

Stuff later put questions to Ritchies about Kerry’s comments.

At the weekend, Singh’s family described the 8-year-old as “a very happy child” who was “full of life, energetic, curious” and “loved outdoors, jumping, climbing” and “giggling all the time”.

They were still struggling to understand how their son was able to leave the vehicle, when he was usually secured using multiple restraints. The school Singh went to said it would not comment.

WorkSafe said it understood Singh’s family wanted answers and would be “contacting them to explain the support that’s available” and “what to expect”.

“We're unable to go into detail about our ongoing enquiries. At this stage, our inspectors are gathering information from a range of sources to understand what happened,” it said.

“This includes identifying any businesses or organisations that may have responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. It’s important we take the time to gather the right information before deciding next steps.”