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Their bus behavior
By DONNA WINCHESTER © St. Petersburg Times, published January 24, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Seven-year-old Javaris Harris was in the hot seat. He was trying hard to be brave, but his lower lip was beginning to tremble. He clenched and unclenched his fists and cast nervous glances at the adults who had gathered around the table to determine his fate. Debi Turner, the school principal, spoke to him gently. "I'm going to tell you a good thing," she said. "If you have no other referrals, you're in good luck." But a quick look at his file revealed that Javaris had been written up in September for moving around on the bus while it was moving. He was cited in November for talking while the bus was stopped at a railroad crossing. This time he had been sitting on his backpack instead of holding it on his lap. Javaris was facing the consequences of school bus misbehavior at Blanton Elementary School, 6400 54th Ave. N. He was being interviewed by the "best bus" intervention committee, commonly known as bus court, which convenes every Tuesday morning in the principal's office. Bus court is part of the Blanton Best Bus Club, an incentive program created by Mrs. Turner in 1996 when she was assistant principal. The school's nine bus drivers wrote nearly 600 referrals that year for violations ranging from unwillingness to follow directions to fighting. Mrs. Turner knew her students could do better. "No one had ever helped them to see a reason to be proud of their bus," she said. "I felt the school needed to take more ownership of the problem." She recruited staff members to come up with some solutions. They met with bus drivers to create behavior tracking sheets. They scheduled meetings with students to give them a chance to express their feelings about bus conditions and to offer ideas for improvement. They created a Friday afternoon awards ceremony to recognize students with good bus behavior and started serving lemonade, iced tea and cookies to the bus drivers. The committee also decided to assign assistants to each school bus. In addition to tapping teachers' assistants, neighborhood parents were recruited to make the morning and afternoon bus run with the students. The result: Bus driver referrals for the 1999-2000 school year dropped to 46. "We've totally turned our school around in four years," Mrs. Turner said. "And we've done it with positive discipline." One of the 22 bus assistants who practices positive discipline is Karla Scott. She rides the No. 807 bus to Blanton every morning with the children from her Bartlett Park neighborhood and rides the No. 304 bus home with them in the afternoon. Miss Scott, 34, became a teacher's assistant four years ago when her son was a student at Blanton. When she isn't dispensing tough love on the school bus, she works with fourth- and fifth-graders who have severe learning disabilities. "I don't have any problems on my bus," she said. "I try to make them have the most enjoyable ride to and from school." She sits in the middle of the bus in a seat she calls the "love seat." She invites children who misbehave to come and sit with her. "I call it the love seat because I tell them I love them and I want them to be safe," she said. "I tell them we're all equal. No one is better than the next on this bus." Miss Scott has a few simple rules for the 62 children who ride her bus: Talk to your seat mate only, keep your backpack on your lap and keep your feet out of the aisles. She also serves as a messenger for Mrs. Turner, carrying sealed letters from the school to the children's parents. It's the only way the school can stay in touch with parents without telephones. "I don't know how she remembers all these kids' names," bus driver Ruth Reinhardt said. "She is absolutely the greatest. The kids respect and like her. She doesn't expect anything more from them than what they should be doing." Mrs. Reinhardt, who also drives for Fuguitt Elementary School, Pinellas Park Middle School and Pinellas Marine Institute, said having an extra presence on the bus is helpful. With no assistant, she has to watch the road as well as the children. She said Miss Scott also keeps the noise level down so she can concentrate on traffic. Mrs. Reinhardt said she writes very few bus referrals for the children who ride with Miss Scott. The referrals she writes most often are for children who disobey a Pinellas County transportation department rule stating they must be quiet when the bus approaches and crosses railroad tracks. More serious violations that sometimes occur on other buses include throwing things out of bus windows and standing while the bus is in motion. According to assistant principal David Carey, bus court disciplinary action depends on the seriousness of the offense. "Students get a warning first," he said. "After that, if behavior doesn't improve, they are issued a one-day suspension from the bus." But, he said, if a child has no way to get to school, he or she will be given a one-day reprieve to give the parent a chance to arrange transportation. He said the worst-case scenario is bus expulsion for one semester, but that happens only after a bus driver-parent consultation. Mr. Carey and Mrs. Turner both emphasized that bus court is not punitive. Rather than reprimanding children, the intervention committee's goal is to help students create a "bus plan for success." "Yelling doesn't rebuild children," Mrs. Turner said. "It just angers them. We try to find out what the problem is and then we let the children come up with solutions." But Javaris Harris' only thought as he sat facing the committee last week was that he was really in trouble this time. He was surprised when he heard Carmen Aponte, the assistant who rides his bus, telling the committee that his behavior has actually improved since the beginning of the year. He also was not expecting the question Mrs. Turner asked him. "Why do you think it's not a good idea to sit on your backpack?" she queried. With furrowed brow, he responded, "I could get hurt. I could fly off the seat." "That's right," Mrs. Turner said. "We care about you and we want you to be safe." She asked him what he's going to do with his backpack from now on. "Keep it on my lap," Javaris said. His relief was visible and a smile was playing at the corners of his mouth. The committee decided that this time Javaris would get a warning. He also got praise for his resolve to do the right thing in the future. Javaris and Mrs. Turner shook hands to seal the deal. Among the rulesThe following guidelines are among those compiled by the Transportation Department of the Pinellas County School Board that make up the 20 rules for bus safety posted on Pinellas County school buses. No glass containers, sharp objects or weapons of any kind (or facsimiles of weapons) are allowed on school buses. Laser pens/pointers are not allowed on school buses. Students will not eat, drink or smoke on school buses. Students will not throw any items within the school bus or throw items out of the bus windows. No obscene language or gestures will be tolerated on school buses. Students must sit in their assigned seats. Students are to remain seated at all times when the bus is in motion. No animals, alive or dead, are allowed on school buses.
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