On Board Bus Monitors

In Idaho Falls, Idaho, Bonneville County Joint School District (JSD) 93 is taking a proactive stance on school bus bullying. They are launching a program that will hopefully solve not only the bullying but other behavior and discipline problems happening on board. Five years ago they had security cameras installed in their buses as a first step in this fight, but when the feed-back came in, it wasn't as good as they wanted. Now they are trying to have adult bus monitors on board. This is a volunteer position and they have no active role in disciplining the students. The monitors will be given a clip board on which they are to record and keep track of the behavioral problems for the day. They will also be in charge of handing out "Bus Bucks" which the students can turn for prizes.

They do not expect to have someone on every route and so they plan to try to disperse the volunteers evenly through-out this trial period. To be a volunteer they must first undergo a back ground check, the same one the school uses. For extra help with the program (JSD) 93 is looking into recruiting at retirement establishments.

I think this is a great idea! We will sometimes have extra people on board when we are told about repeated incidents. If we could prevent problems by simply having an extra set of adult eyes present it would be wonder. It is also an easy way to be active in your community if you are someone who takes pleasure in helping others! I wish you luck (JSD) 93!

Thank You,

Haleigh