Bus Monitors: Are They a Necessity or Luxury?

Parents have been worrying about their children on buses since, well, the invention of buses. Any time a parent puts their child in the hands of someone else, the worry-meter goes into overdrive. But somehow, we take a deep breath, give our kids a kiss and send them on their way, having faith in the professionals who transport our children to get them to and from school safely.

During this stressful time of year—budget season—which looks to be added to the list of seasons of the year, the question regarding the affordability of has come to the surface. Again.

Since 1986, our community has experienced the peace of mind knowing that a qualified driver and supportive monitor have well cared for our kids every morning and every afternoon. So this begs the question:

Question: Are bus monitors a necessity or a luxury?

Lori, Mom of 2 Girls Ages 9 and 10

I feel strongly that bus monitors are a necessity. From what I have seen and situations that I have heard about from my older daughter, bus drivers deal with far too many distractions while the bus is in motion as well as when it’s stopped. With two children, I can get distracted with what’s going on in the car while I’m driving. I can’t imagine driving around a busload of 77 children! Another adult needs to be on each bus, on every run, no matter what the age of the riders. That second adult needs to be there when kids get on the bus, but most importantly, when they get off the bus to keep them safe from other distracted drivers. We, as parents, send our children off to school every day entrusting many other professionals to make smart decisions for their protection on our behalf. We will always need that level of trust. The school day starts and ends with bus drivers and monitors. Thanks for all you do to bring our kids home safe. 

Robyn, Mom of a High School and College Student

How about a necessary luxury?? Every parent wants complete safety and secruity for their children. When a tragic event occurs, it is important to analyze the situation and respond with improvements to avoid future tragedy.  When these solutions come with a luxurious price tag, maybe it is time to re-analyze the situation and come up with other "less perfect" solutions.  The Safety Town program held for Kindergarteners is the perfect time to address the bus safety issues. No matter how much money we spend, we will never have a perfect system, and tragedies will occassionally occur in the lives of our children. We certainly do not want to allow situations where there is neglect, and not having bus monitors in my opinion does not qualify as neglect. Necessity or luxury? That is a hard question when it comes to budget issues. Maybe we need to look at creating revenue by charging for bus service so we don't have to make this difficult decision.

Lindsay, Mom of Two Toddlers

This is such a hot bed issue here.  There are plenty of school systems that do not use these monitors and do not have the kinds of incidents that I have seen cited. Now, granted in those school systems, they may not have "Rhode Island" drivers. All kidding aside, if the kind of driving that made these monitors necessary still exists, then there is something to be said for keeping them. However, tough cutbacks are necessary and yet our priorities must be to keep our kids safe. Bottom line is that a lot needs to change in our school systems and unfortunately bus monitors seem like a luxury. (And we all need to drive more carefully here!)