Pubdate: Mon, 10 Mar 2008
Source: Day, The (New London,CT)
Copyright: 2008 The Day Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.theday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/293
Author: Julie Wernau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

BUS DRIVERS FEEL HANDS TIED BY GROTON'S POLICY

Groton - School bus drivers say they are concerned  about a school
district practice that asks them to  contact the school first instead
of the police when an  incident occurs on a school bus.

The drivers say the policy could be putting drivers in  danger and
sending students the wrong message.

Two bus drivers were recently given new routes after  parents
complained that the drivers chose to involve  police with incidents on
the bus. Now several bus  drivers who asked not to be identified say
they felt  the move sent a message: that students who misbehave  can
get away with it.

The district defended reassigning the drivers.

In the first instance, in January, a bus driver called  her
transportation dispatcher after she thought four  Fitch Senior High
School students on her route were  smoking marijuana on the school
bus.

The dispatcher first tried contacting the school,  drivers said. When
no one answered, the dispatcher told  the driver to pull into the
police station.

"We thought they could have handled it differently,"  said Michael
Emery, assistant principal at Fitch.

In that instance, police said, they were unable to  prove that
students were smoking marijuana. Police  determined some students were
smoking cigarettes.

In the second incident, a loud Fitch Senior High School  student
allegedly threatened a bus driver, and the  driver had police come
onto the bus to take the student  off.

"You have to use some discretion. You don't call the  police for every
single incident that happens on the  school bus," Emery said.

Hugh Hunter, business manager for the school district,  said Groton
prefers that drivers deal first with the  school, if possible. If
something can be handled  in-house, as a disciplinary problem, school
officials  would prefer to handle it themselves, he said.

"Obviously, if the driver thinks that the safety of the  bus is in
peril, they should pull over to the side of  the road and wait for
police," he said.

Hunter said the bus drivers were transferred from their  routes
because of "supercharged" situations. He said it  was best for all
parties involved.

One bus driver, who spoke on condition of anonymity,  said, "What you
just told those kids is that what they  did was fine."

The drivers, who are employed by Student Transportation  of America,
said discipline on a school bus isn't like  discipline at a school.

"We have to get them from A to B safely," the driver  said. "With
disruptions, our eyes are off the road."

All Groton school buses are equipped with video  surveillance. School
policies dictate that "the driver  is in full charge on the bus, and
instructions given  are to be obeyed."

"I think we are only allowed to call the cops if the  students are
fighting or if the bus has been involved  in an accident. Most of the
drivers were very upset  over this whole thing because it really
undermines our  credibility," said another driver.

Student Transportation of America referred comment to a  district
supervisor who did not return a call. In a  second call, STA refused
comment.

Barbara Brigham, a manager for Laidlaw Transportation,  which
dispatches buses for Waterford, East Lyme and New  London, said her
buses also communicate through a  dispatcher because the drivers are
not allowed to have  cell phones, not even with hands-free devices.

"If it's a safety issue or it's an illegal thing, I  don't care. I'm
going to get the police involved, no  matter what the school says,"
Brigham said. "It's not  that we want to call the police. We don't
want these  situations."

Brigham said the Laidlaw drivers also have cameras on  their buses.
She said the cameras have sometimes saved  drivers' jobs, when
students made bogus accusations  against drivers they didn't like.

She said a look at the tapes with administrators has  revealed false
accusations about everything from a  driver who supposedly was driving
with a baby in her  lap to another driver who students claimed was
smoking.

"The town needs to adopt a policy concerning bus  behavior and what to
do in an emergency," said another  Groton bus driver. "The drivers are
being told one  thing, and when they do as they're told, they risk
being fired or reprimanded or taken off their run.  Where is the
protection for that driver or the other  students on that bus?"

William D. Moore, executive director of the Connecticut  School
Transportation Association, an independent,  not-for-profit
organization of pupil transportation  carriers in Connecticut, said
typically policies about  emergencies on buses are developed in
coordination with  the local board of education and the carrier.

"It's really on a board-by-board, policy-by-policy  basis," Moore
said.

But generally, he said, drivers will notify dispatch  first, and
dispatch will make the determination about  what to do.
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MAP posted-by: Derek