Bus issues
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Brendan got off the school bus last week on Wednesday upset. I could tell he was upset and as we were walking home he told me a little girl tried to CHOKE him on the bus. The bus driver saw us talking and pulled the bus over because he could tell I was upset. We talked to Brendan to get the whole story and apparently this girl put her hands around his neck and was squeezing his neck. The bus driver was VERY upset and asked me to call transportation to have them pull the tape and make a complaint about needing aides on the buses.
When I got home I called transportation and made my complaint, I was told that because of budget cut backs they couldn't have aides on the buses unless there were special needs children on them.
I don't agree with this and I'm going to go to the school board meeting next month about this. We just had our taxes raised and the school district will be getting more money. When you think about it, a bus driver probably at least has a minimum of 50 kids on a bus (that's probably a low estimate) and he/she is responsible for the lives of those children, whether it be by safe driving or providing safety from harm from other kids etc... They wouldn't put a teacher in a classroom by herself with 50 kids so why would they put ONE person in charge of all those kids and try to drive a vechicle. That's a lot of responsibility for one person.
Anyways... the next morning Brendan ID'd the girl who did this to him and she admitted to hitting him in the stomach (which he hadn't told me about). The bus driver was taking her to the principal as soon as they got to school. I'm not sure of the outcome of that but Brendan hasn't had any problems since.
Anyone have any expreince with approaching a school board? Have any tips/advice?
((((Hugs)))) I'm sorry you and B are going through this. You know I am having my own set of issues with the kids' bus, so I can totally understand how you feel...
As for bus aides, I'm not surprised they are saying it's not in the budget. People want lower taxes, but they don't realize the little things like this get cut, and kids suffer. Heck, they often don't even have enough aides for special needs children, look at that news story recently where the bus driver freaked out and choked a kid because he was out of control. He was supposed to have an aide, and didn't.
Anyway, onto something helpful, I hope... I don't have any experience personally with going to the school board, but I am going to ask my grandmom for advice in the morning. She is a bus driver, and used to work for the school district, so she has had a lot of experience dealing with them. She's a stickler for rules and safety, too, and I'm pretty sure she has gone to them with this exact issue. I don't know how far you will be able to get with them, because even with the raised taxes, there are so many things that schools have cut out, and a tax hike only covers some of that. I agree it's insane to have one person in charge of all of those small children, and be expected to drive, though. Since when is it ok to sacrifice our childrens' safety to save a buck? The messed up part is the school district wouldn't dream of cutting the football team (or insert other popular sport here) to save some money. Good luck, honey... let us know what happens.
Oh, I do have one other suggestion, should you not be able to get them to put aides on the bus. Perhaps you could talk to the members of the PTA, and organize some kind of volunteer thing, where parents would act as aids when available. It would be a big difficult to organize, but might be a viable alternative, and even if it's a couple days a week in the beginning, the adult presence might help the kids learn to behave. Just a thought... 
I fully agree with you! Can you imagine having to concentrate on driving AND monitoring 50 kids? It's hard enough with your own kids in the back seat!
Good luck to you. You have a battle ahead of you.
We don't even have enough bus drivers in our county. I can't even tell you how many times my daughters bus was up to TWO hours late because they had to share the bus with two routes. Thankfully, this year, it hasn't happened.
First, besides making a complaint to transportation, I would suggest, you make a formal complaint in the school office. The principal or vice principal need to be aware of the situation.
Both my dks ride the bus, they are in 5th and 3rd grade. Our school district is very strict about behavior on the bus. They treat the bus as an extension of school, which it should be. The boys and I have to sign a contract at the beginning of each school year. It has the rules listed, and states that the boys will follow the rules. If there is an incident, depending on the severity, you can either be suspended from riding the bus, or given a warning, that any further incident will result in a suspension. Also, you are moved to a seat by yourself at the front of the bus. In the 2 years my boys have been riding the bus, there was one boy who was suspended for a short time, and one that actually lost his bus riding priviledges.
Unfortunately, the bus driver can not see it all. You must make sure your complaint is heard, and the school knows your situation. I would not leave it up to transportation to make sure this happens. Complain directly to Brendan's school. Also, I would find out the bus rules, if you don't know them already, and possibly concentrate on changing those, if they need to be, instead of trying to get an aid. I think changing the bus rules, if they need to be, would be easier then getting an aid.
Good luck to you. What a horrible thing for Brendan to have to deal with.
I will say with our strict bus rules, there have not been too many incidents on the buses. We are also lucky, to have a great bus driver. He has been driving my dks since we moved here.
I just want to say how sorry I am that your ds had to endure such horrible treatment by this little. Poor guy! I hope he is doing ok now.
I wonder if the bus driver could assign seating? Just like in a class?
To add, the school board does need to hear about this. I would document everything and get other stories from other parents, with their signatures as well. If they can afford tapes in every bus, they can afford aides. If they can afford a lawsuit, they can afford aides.
If not, they need to at least train bus drivers so that they can manage a group of kids that big. Some strategies maybe?
If anything, like something said above, the parents might be able to volunteer.
I'm so sorry!!! I know so many bus drivers and have seen so many things on buses as a teachers it makes my skin crawl. Not just the obvious physical stuff, but the things that are said and done that few others see. My parents never let me ride a bus growing up, and I totally realized why as an adult and a teacher.
Ditto Debbie. It was that way in my old school corporation with the bus. Cameras were also installed on each and every bus. Issues were taken right to the principal, videos were watched, parents were brought in, and kids were removed from the bus if needed. MANY drivers had assigned seating as well, and those two things combined really helped to minimize chaos on the bus.
It's so very difficult to manage a bus of kids and also drive. I would say impossible. There are many times that bus drivers actually have to pull over and STOP the bus to handle a situation, which is ludicrous IMO, which is where a bus aide would come in. Head Start has bus aides, but they have the funding. There also need to be aides in every classroom, but that's another story. No funding for that either.
I think it kind of comes down to funding really isn't needed. If you can't behave on the bus, you can't ride. I think it's a privilege to ride the bus, and the kids who are causing problems are putting every child in danger. BUT...then you get into children who can't get to school without the bus, whose parents won't bring them to school or simply can't, and I don't know the answer past that because kids have to be educated. I guess after multiple bus suspensions then kids can bepermanently removed from the bus.
Definitely make a formal complaint to EVERYONE, including the school board as mentioned above. The school board has the control, and if enough people complain about major issues on the buses, then maybe some policy will be put into place such as a)the principal promptly treats the problem as an in-school disciplinary problem, b)parents are involved immediately, and c)kids know the expectations on the bus and that no less will be tolerated.
I can recall several bus situations where parents were called into the principal's office immediately after arrival because of an incident, just as if it had happened in the building.
Good luck. I would be so ticked I'd be spitting nails.
Wow. My kids rode the bus in elementary school, but never had any issues.
CYE.
Update -- I called the assistant pricipal the other day (my days are running together from lack of sleep) and we had a long conversation about all my concerns over the bus. She hadn't heard of the issue on our bus so I was plenty upset that apparently the little girl didn't get any type of punishment or talking to about her behavior towards Brendan. That same day Brendan said she pulled him out of class and talked to him about things that go on while they are on the bus, he also had someone ride with him that day AND he now sits within the first 5 rows on the bus. So far just making these changes things have been MUCH better.
I talked to his dad the same day and we are going to the January school board meeting to bring up the safety issues on the bus. I'll let you guys know how that goes.
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