Bus drivers say they’re worried about their new responsibilities as the modified school year begins, and want more help in the form of nurses and monitors.
David Strong, president of the School Transportation Association of Massachusetts, said bus drivers are “not doctors, they’re not health experts.”
“To some extent, they’re going to feel like they’re being asked to do something they’re not qualified to do,” he said.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines call for parents to conduct an at-home COVID-19 screening before sending kids off to school and drivers “should be appropriately trained to observe students upon entry” to see if they’re symptomatic.
If a driver believes a student may be sick, the driver is supposed to stop the child from boarding the bus, and a parent must take them home, according to DESE guidelines.
But there isn’t always a parent at the bus stop with a student. Steve Ingle, owner of Joseph Ingle Bus Service in Hanover, said, “We can’t leave a student behind at a bus stop alone, so most likely school will request us to have the student sit on the bus in an isolated area.”
He said isolating a student on a full bus, even with reduced capacity, would be hard to do.
When asked about the concerns of drivers, a DESE spokeswoman noted the agency’s “frequently asked questions” page that states, “We are not recommending bus drivers or bus monitors actively screen students as they enter or ride the school bus. However, bus drivers and bus monitors can play an important role in flagging possible symptomatic students.”
All staff and students on the bus have to wear a mask and students will be seated one per bench. Windows on the bus must be open at all times unless there are “extreme weather conditions,” the guidelines state.
DESE also recommends having a monitor on the bus to assist with enforcement, a welcome helping hand for drivers.
“We should be having monitors on every bus, big or small,” said Nichole Gatling, a school bus driver in Brockton and shop steward with Teamsters Local 653.
In a recent City Council meeting, Boston School Bus Drivers’ Union President Andre Francois said, “We demand that we have Boston Teachers Union nurses at every school facility including our bus yards, because before we go pick up the children in the morning and in the evening from school to take them home, we have to make sure we are healthy.”
Drivers continue to face uncertainty as routes in several districts are still being configured and getting kids to school on a reduced capacity bus remains a challenge.
Boston Superintendent Brenda Cassellius has acknowledged that transportation — ever a point of contention for the Boston Public Schools system — presents one of the largest challenges in school reopening.
A BPS spokesman said the district currently has 745 active bus drivers, 721 buses and 525 bus monitors on staff. Another 50 monitors have been submitted for hire and 50 more will be hired to fill a standby list.
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Massachusetts bus drivers deal with new responsibilities amid coroanvirus - Boston Herald
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