Bonneville Joint Dist. 93 Wants Volunteers On School Buses

Bonneville County Joint School District 93 is becoming more proactive when it comes to putting an end to bullying.

They plan to put adult volunteers on school buses, which is getting a lot of support from parents, bus drivers and district officials alike.

The bus ride is often the one part of the school day when kids are practically unsupervised.

“All of the things that can go wrong on buses are exactly the things that can go wrong in a school,” said Guy Bliesner, Health, Safety and Security Coordinator for District 93. “When things go wrong on a bus, it’s a bus driver. And his first job better be driving the bus!”

This could leave ample opportunities for a bully to strike.

Surveillance cameras have been in place on District 93’s buses for about three years. They have captured several instances of bullying, but bus drivers say that having an extra set of human eyes on board won’t hurt.

“If we had a volunteer parent, perhaps we could concentrate more on the driving and less on watching the children,” said bus driver Art Bowes

The volunteers would not only be an enforcer, but also a psychological deterrent.

“Just an adult presence seems to change, radically, the behavior on a bus,” Bliesner said.

It’s a change parents can really get on board with.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Lauri Thurber, PTO President at Mountain Valley Elementary.

Although Thurber’s part-time job prevents her from volunteering on the bus, she said she plans to convince her friends to volunteer.

All volunteers will be screened before they’re allowed to ride along on the buses.

Volunteers will also be given “bus bucks” to hand out to kids if they are behaving well. The bucks can be redeemed for prizes.

District 93 hopes to put this plan into effect in about three or four weeks.