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Parents press Beecher district for staff escorts after children seen running at daycare pickup
Summary
Multiple parents and drivers told the Transportation Committee they had seen children running in a daycare parking lot and some children standing on bus steps while buses backed up; parents asked the district to require a daycare staff member to meet the bus door and escort students inside.
Several parents and a bus driver told the Transportation Committee that children getting off buses at a local daycare have been running through a parking lot and in one reported instance a child fell; parents said this creates a hazard when buses back up in that lot.
"If we could just get that that way because it is it does, like, stretch the drivers...If you could easily just have an employee come to the door of the school bus and make sure they come in the door, that would alleviate the stress of our drivers," the chair said summarizing the safety request. A parent reported a child lost a tooth during horseplay on the bus, and another attendee who drives commercial vehicles warned that "backing a commercial vehicle in a parking lot...is a big problem."
District staff said the immediate fix would be to have an aide supervise daycare riders at the school while the district works to hire a dedicated daycare driver. Officials also noted they have cameras on buses and that transportation supervisors will handle reported incidents case by case, including disciplinary steps such as loss of bus privileges where appropriate.
Parents asked that daycare staff or volunteers meet buses at off-site day care doors to escort children inside; the committee said it would include that expectation in discussions with the day care providers and reinforce accountability with drivers and parents.
