Update: School buses getting cameras anyway

[Rosie the Riveter]

Wow -- as I understood it the school board voted against cameras on buses, but now the MTA is going ahead and doing it anyway. Amazing how government totaly ignores the will of the people and their reps.


Bedlam on the buses
By RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff
13 hours, 29 minutes ago


Manchester ? A Hillside Middle School student who urinated on the bus.

A Southside student who punched another in the eye.

A Weston schooler who spread dog manure on the floor for someone to step in.

Those are a few of the tales of rowdiness contained in complaints Manchester Transit Authority bus drivers have submitted to school officials during the past two years.

From kids who fight, to others who refuse to be seated, the misbehavior represents a laundry list of problems drivers encounter on their routes to and from school.

The 947 complaints raised the eyebrows of school board members last week and are part of the impetus behind school and bus officials' plans to install video cameras on every school bus.

"Honestly, as I read this, I read it with my mouth open all the way," Katherine Labanaris, a Ward 5 board member, said as the reports were discussed by the Student Conduct Committee.

"These lists are incredible," added Debra Langton, an at-large member who heads the panel.

In the 2005-2006 school year, 763 complaints were filed by bus drivers, 104 of which involved students who were repeat offenders.

In September, October and the beginning days of December this year, 184 reports were submitted to the district, with 27 cases of repeat offense, according to Assistant Superintendent Karen Burkush.

Most involved kids who wouldn't sit or who wouldn't listen to the bus driver. Others included accusations of spitting, pushing and shoving, fighting, bullying, profanity and racial or sexual harassment.

In September, a Webster School bus driver was forced to pull over to the side of the road because of screaming students.

In May, a Highland-Goffe's Falls student got in trouble for putting gum in another's hair.

And in November 2005, a driver for Southside Middle School was sprayed with deodorant by a rider.

David Smith, the executive director of the MTA, said the number of reports may appear higher than they actually are, since misbehavior by a group of students will result in a complaint against each of them.

Smith said MTA and school officials take seriously drivers' concerns, despite the challenges of policing school buses.

"It is difficult to supervise behavior on a school bus," Smith said. "Of course kids are energetic on the school bus, particularly at the end of the day."

Assistant Superintendent Frank Bass said sanctions can range from a warning, to detention, to a student losing busing privileges.

Bass said most complaints are minor. The sheer number of them must be compared to the size of a district that has 81 buses and 23 schools, he said.

But officials are reexamining the student code of conduct and making sure it is being applied fairly and across the board, Bass said.

While school officials believe problems are being handled well, Bass said, "it's always a worthwhile thing to revisit your code and see if you need to tweak something here or there."

Smith hopes cameras will help, a view echoed by Leslee Stewart of Ward 1, the vice chairman of the school board.

She touted the record they keep for disciplinary action.

"It does seem that there are many instances that might be deterred by a video camera," Stewart said.

Using its own money, the Manchester Transit Authority is going ahead with a portion of plans that eventually call for cameras to be installed across its school bus fleet.

Four buses being purchased will have them, while the MTA is buying another 20 sets of cameras at an estimated cost of $2,200 each.

Others want the district to beef up its penalties against students who misbehave.

Art Beaudry, a Ward 9 board member, said he's talked to drivers plagued by rowdy riders.

"With some of these things I'm surprised you don't have suspensions on a weekly basis," Beaudry said.

[Raineyrocks]

Amazing how government totaly ignores the will of the people and their reps.

I know it is amazing but most of the american population keep letting them get away with it too.  

[Dave Ridley]

yuk

[outlaw4freedom]

I must be spending too much time with these cooky Libertarians...

because I'm not even done with the article, and all I can think of, is

What about the parents?

Poor parenting + poor education system = rowdy kids!

[Rosie the Riveter]

yuk

I know -- I thought we had this covered with your protest and my correspondance with the school board  ???

[Rosie the Riveter]

I must be spending too much time with these cooky Libertarians...

because I'm not even done with the article, and all I can think of, is

What about the parents?

Poor parenting + poor education system = rowdy kids!

Yup, you're starting to sound like me  It's not really a bad thing to wonder "Where are the parents!", but it can be frustrating to think about.

[TheLibertyZombie]

grrrrrrrr

[burnthebeautiful]

In the 2005-2006 school year, 763 complaints were filed by bus drivers, 104 of which involved students who were repeat offenders.

That's the problem right there. Instead of a private bus system where the bus driver/company can ban students from the bus, or do it the old fashioned way and kick them off and make them walk the rest of the way home or simply smack them upside the head, all the bus drivers are allowed to do is submit a complaint form. Of course kids aren't going to follow the orders of a bus driver when the worst case scenario is the bus driver fills out a lousy complaint form that probably just gets thrown in a pile somewhere.

"Sit down!"
"Or what?"
"Or I'll... fill out a complaint form!"

I mean come on! Maybe that's threatening if you're 6 years old and the bus driver tells you he'll send the complaint form to Santa Clause, but the average bratty teenager will just laugh in the bus drivers face if that's the only repercussion.

[Raineyrocks]

I mean come on! Maybe that's threatening if you're 6 years old and the bus driver tells you he'll send the complaint form to Santa Clause, but the average bratty teenager will just laugh in the bus drivers face if that's the only repercussion.

That's so true. Where we lived (eastern shore Maryland) a teenager spit on the bus driver and the bus driver smacked him across his face.  There were rumours that the bus driver would be fired but it never happened and that kid learned a lesson he'll never forget!  I know some people may disagree to this behavior on the bus driver's part but I bet he had enough!

[Rosie the Riveter]

grrrrrrrr

Love the new name and avitar.

[burnthebeautiful]

I mean come on! Maybe that's threatening if you're 6 years old and the bus driver tells you he'll send the complaint form to Santa Clause, but the average bratty teenager will just laugh in the bus drivers face if that's the only repercussion.

That's so true. Where we lived (eastern shore Maryland) a teenager spit on the bus driver and the bus driver smacked him across his face.  There were rumours that the bus driver would be fired but it never happened and that kid learned a lesson he'll never forget!  I know some people may disagree to this behavior on the bus driver's part but I bet he had enough!

I think a smack is an acceptable reaction to being spit on. I don't think being spit on would give you the right to kill the person, but a smack is fine with me.