Metro

Bus driver gears for action as pupils drive

The Plain Dealer/James A. Hatch

Claudia Arnold, mother of four, talks about the problems she and other school bus drivers encounter.

By J. Stephen Hatch

Hell on wheels.

That describes, at least occasionally, the life of a school bus driver.

The PTA Council of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights system decided last week to form a committee to study the problem.

The action came after Claudia Arnold, a driver who also has four children in the system, wrote a letter describing her experiences and those of other drivers.

In the letter, Mrs. Arnold wrote of:

A pupil striking a driver in the back of the head with a piece of wood while the bus was in motion. •Seats slashed with knives. •Windows shattered by rocks. •Pupils smoking and swearing at the drivers.

Last Thursday a policeman who moonlights as a driver for the system took Mrs. Arnold's route. Unknown to the children, mostly junior high schoolers, the policeman recorded part of the trip on tape.

He has a daughter in the system and apparently some of the children recognized him because shortly after the tape begins, loud "oinks" are heard.

Then, after more screaming and yelling, the word "pig" is heard several times.

The tape plays on and, very clearly, a boy is heard asking the

her...

Steer crazy

bus driver to perform a homosexual act on him.

At that point the driver blew his stack and launched into a tirade, warning the children that riding on the bus was a privilege and that they could be barred indefinitely from riding.

The children hushed and Mrs. Arnold said they have been behaving since then.

Mrs. Arnold and Jean Lamb, president of the PTA Council, agreed the problem is not unique to their system.

"I've talked with drivers in other systems," said Mrs. Arnold, "and it's pretty much the same for them."

"In the rural systems the drivers get to know the kids and their parents and usually have only one route to cover so most of them don't have the problem," said Mrs. Lamb.

Judith A. McDermott, transportation supervisor for the Parma sys-

tem, also agreed the problem is widespread.

Last June Mrs. McDermott wrote a report suggesting solutions to the school bus discipline problem.

Because of the report, Parma is considering installing time-lapse cameras on the buses at a cost of about $16,000.

Mrs. McDermott said some of the buses already have two-way radios that seem to alleviate the problem, and more may be installed.

Among other solutions in the report, Mrs. McDermott suggested hiring an aide on each of the system's 52 buses. But the cost of $157,000 a year, she said, would be prohibitive.

Greater discipline in the home and a better appreciation of a driver's problems by parents and school administrators would go a long way toward solving the problem, said Mrs. Arnold.