Harlan Kirgan
St. Landry Parish School Board members focused on discipline in schools and on buses at a meeting in Opelousas on Monday.
On the heels of that discussion by the Board’s Executive Committee session, Maj. Eddie Thibodeaux, spokesman for St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz, announced an investigation into an attack on a school bus driver at Palmetto Elementary on Tuesday.
During the meeting, Eunice area School Board member Mary Ellen Fontenot suggested para-professionals be hired to monitor behavior of buses.
Bus drivers have to concentrate on driving and not watching the mirror to stop disputes, she said.
Discipline problems on buses was an issue heard at Superintendent’s Patrick Jenkins’ town hall meetings, she said.
Donatto said the behavior on buses was cited as one reason parents are not using the free bus transportation.
“At least look into it because if somebody is already an employee they might conceivably be interested in $7 an hour to ride in the morning and $7 in the afternoon,” she said.
Hazel Sias, an Opelousas Board member, said bus drivers cannot watch the road and children. “But if you had somebody to help the bus driver, I think you could eliminate some of, not all, but some of them,” she said of bus discipline incidents.
Like many school issues, money is factor in what’s done and the superintendent said cameras on buses would cost $2,000 to $3,000.
And, with 167 buses operated in the parish, hiring aides to staff them could cost up to $1 million a year, he said.
Milton Batiste, transportation supervisor, said only a couple of buses in the district have cameras, but he plans to buy cameras for new buses.
Drivers can do scans every five to eight seconds to monitor behavior, he said.
But there are buses in which the drivers need help, he said.
Quarterly safety meetings are scheduled, Batiste said. In addition, he plans to form a committee to review bus policies.
The discussion about discipline on school buses occurred as the committee reviewed the Board’s policy on bullying and hazing.
The conversation also touched on discipline in schools.
Kyle Boss, a south St. Landry Parish Board member, said, “It is getting out of hand ... the parents want to take up for the kids all the time. We need to do something.”
Discipline in the schools came up during the superintendent’s listening tour, he said.
“We all went to school. We got corrected and got home and got corrected again and turned out all right. These kids you have to watch how you talk to them and that’s why nobody wants to teach any more. They ain’t got no control. You can’t control your class and the samething with the bus drivers,” Boss said.
“The bus drivers have a big enough problem trying to keep everybody safe and watch the road and they’ve got to watch if they are fighting and cutting up on the bus,” Boss said. “I think we need to start setting some examples or see what we can do.”
Jenkins said, “That’s a tough one. In today’s climate unfortunately we get sued a lot for a lot of different things.”
He added, “I think our clientele is a little tougher than when we were in school as you alluded to.”
Anthony Batiste, a Lawtell area Board member, said school employee hands are tied until legislation is changed.
Some of the students want to be put out on the street, he said.
“Our parents need to be held more accountable than they have been in the past,” he said.
The bullying and hazing policy was approved by the committee.
Jerome Robinson, supervisor of Health/P.E./Athletics, who presented the policy, said there has been no spike in bullying incidents in the school system.