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.