While there’s no word as to the cause of the school bus accident in a parking lot at RFK Stadium, the results were unanimous: 22 children and two adults, including the bus driver, suffered minor injuries and were taken to area hospitals for treatment. Here’s what we know, a school bus slammed into a light pole hard enough “to shake and rattle the bus, and that was enough to move some kids around in the bus and for us to come here and make sure everyone was OK,” said a first responder spokesman. There were a total of 46 people on the bus, most of them elementary school students. “For one reason or another, the school bus driver just didn’t see [the pole] or just misread the distance,” said the spokesman.
A Florida man, who lured his victims with candy, stands accused of eight counts of sexual battery against two female special needs students. Another student saw the Polk County school bus driver put his hands down the pants of the two girls, who were both under the age of 12, and alerted the proper authorities. After reviewing footage taken from the bus, it appears the abuse had happened on multiple occasions, each incident occurring on the bus. When investigators picked up the man, he had candy in his pocket, later admitting to his crimes.
The director of pupil transportation for Chippewa Valley Schools, has some 94 school buses. But not nearly enough drivers. He recently interviewed 18 applicants for the part-time positions. He hired three. “In the last couple of years, the number of applicants had dwindled precipitously,” said the director. This isn’t a solitary instance. Trade publications publish articles with tips on how to recruit drivers, and school transportation folks do whatever they can to “put word out.” Most of it with little success, however. Other transportation officials from both large and small school districts have listed “Help Wanted” signs for months in a quest for men and women to haul kids. The response is underwhelming. “I’ve had a sign out for a year, and I’ve had one application,” said the transportation supervisor for New Haven Community Schools. Putting drivers behind the wheel has become such a challenge, this director has been forced to take on routes herself. “It’s out of necessity,” she said.
Iowa City students, or more so their parents, willl soon have the option to pay for busing. The new fees for the pay-to-ride alternative is $518 per student, per year for round trips. This fee is reduced to $310 for students with reduced lunch. Those students with free lunch will not be asked to pay. The area school board voted unanimously in favor of this program will start at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year, officials stating that busing is based on a “space-available, time-available, first-come, first-served basis.” It will only be available along already existing bus routes and stops.
