By Del Stover
3/18/03 -- Last December, a 4-year-old boy was forced to perform oral sex on two students in the back of a Boston school bus.
Also in December, a masked man armed with a knife threatened a group of middle school girls at a bus stop in Warren, N.J.
A few weeks ago, three students were injured after two 15-year-olds fired a paintball gun at a Morena Valley, Calif., school bus.
These and other recent incidents across the nation highlight the challenging security issues that surround student transportation services. Being a target of a bully is no longer the gravest threat faced by students sitting in the back rows of a school bus.
Gang-related shooting
Indeed, horror stories are easy to find. In Syracuse, N.Y., a bullet struck a bus carrying elementary school students during a gang-related shooting. In Lakeland, Fla., a fight on a school bus escalated after students were dropped off, and one student was stabbed. In Chantilly, Va., a 17-year-old riding a school bus shot another student with a BB gun.
Such incidents have not gone unnoticed by those concerned with school security and transportation. "School bus safety is becoming an increasingly important issue with school officials," says Ronald D. Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center.
But school transportation officials warn against exaggerating the security risks. The reality is that millions of students ride a school bus every day in complete safety.
"We are seeing a lot more stories, but it's always hard to tell whether there's an increase in the number of incidents, or just an increase in media attention," says Robin Leeds of the National School Transportation Association (NSTA).
Arlin Vance, director of transportation services for the Broward County, Fla., school system, shares that opinion. Although he's dealt with a number of assaults and serious fights over the years, "our feeling is that the safety of students is good. The safest mode of transportation in the world is on a school bus."
That safety record, however, depends on preparedness and vigilance, says Bonnie Russell, general manager of transportation for the Houston Independent School District.
Pupil management training
Vigilance must begin with the bus driver. Drivers must keep one eye on the road and one eye on the mirror overhead, Russell says. "It's critical for them to have appropriate skills to identify developing problems and to use techniques that are proactive to prevent violence."
Good drivers mean good training, transportation officials say. That's why a number of school systems now supplement state-mandated training with in-service instruction in student management. Drivers learn to observe students' behavior as they board and leave the bus, to assign students to specific seats, and to separate students when conflicts arise.
"We make sure drivers receive extensive and recurrent training in student management," Russell says. "It's critical for them to be successful."
To reinforce the authority of drivers, Broward County school officials recently re-wrote their student code of conduct to specify penalties for misbehavior on buses, Vance says. The new code also requires principals to be more consistent in how they treat students referred by drivers for disciplinary action.
Although video cameras are increasingly found on school buses, they have not lived up to hopes that they would serve as a deterrent to student misbehavior, officials say.
Once the novelty of the cameras wears off, "kids get used to them," says Leeds of NSTA. They still are useful tools, however, in identifying culprits once an incident is reported.
As far as technology goes, bus radios and cell phones have proven more effective in providing immediate security. Last fall, a bus driver in Piscataway, N.J., telephoned police from his bus to report a fight in which one student threatened to kill another with a gun.
Adult monitors
Some school systems are using students or adult volunteers as monitors to increase supervision over students. In Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, where gang violence has sometimes threatened school safety, police or transit authority officers have patrolled bus routes, Stephens says.
In Boston, school officials say they can temporarily assign adult monitors to buses when drivers express security concerns.
School officials also are paying closer attention to school bus stops -- despite the fact that schools are usually not liable for student safety until students board the bus.
There is good reason for such concern. In Charlotte, N.C., a teenager was shot last fall near a school bus stop where students were waiting. And in Colorado Springs, Colo., a 14-year-old girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted while waiting for a city bus to take her to school.
While police and school security officers can step up patrols in troubled areas, a more common strategy is to respond to reports of problems.
"Road supervisors" in Broward County observe bus stops where complaints are raised -- and question students assigned to that stop. When disciplinary measures are needed, the matter is turned over to principals or police as necessary.
But school personnel aren't the only ones responding to worries about the vulnerability of students at bus stops. Increasingly, parents are taking matters into their own hands and waiting with their children to see them safely aboard their bus. It's a trend that school boards could promote.
"We always encourage adults to be with their children there," Leeds says. "We encourage parents to become involved."