BOSTON — Some students are scared to take the bus to and from school in Boston because fight are breaking out and other inappropriate behavior is occurring.
Concerned parents and guardians are now asking the city to put monitors on all school buses.
"It's mornings after mornings she doesn't want to go. As an example this morning, she didn't want to go,” Joanne Lewis said.
Lewis said her 5-year old granddaughter dreads getting on the school bus every day and it has nothing to do with what happens in the classroom.
"One day has not passed since my granddaughter been riding the bus and there has not been an incident,” she said.
Lewis said fights break out, her granddaughter gets bullied and has even returned home with scratches.
One day she came home with a bottle she thought was juice but was actually filled with urine.
"You're talking 57,000 kids, children going to school every single day and most of them don't have protection on the bus,” Mary Franklin, a grandmother and activist, said.
Franklin said stories like Lewis’ are not uncommon.
After her 5-year-old granddaughter Indya was suspended from the bus, Franklin wanted to understand why, so she got on the bus and was shocked at what she saw.
"The bus drivers cannot safely drive those huge machines and watch these small children. It doesn’t make sense and they should not have to do that,” she said.
A spokesman for Boston Public Schools said there were 5,866 incidents reported on buses last year and currently 37 percent of BPS bus trips have monitors or attendants on board."
"Additionally, schools can request to add attendants to bus trips to address needs for supervision on a case-by-case basis,” a spokesman told FOX25.
Parents and caregivers like Franklin want more.
With the support of State Representative Russel Holmes, Franklin plans to present to the city with Indya's Law, calling for monitors on every school bus and seatbelts.
She said she knows that won't come for free, so backers of the law have reached out to large corporations like McDonalds.
"We're also looking at a place like Target and we're looking at Walmart,” Franklin said. "It's kind of like giving back to the community."
Beyond funding though, many people say this is a matter of safety.
"The kids would feel more safe. My granddaughter would feel more safe,” Lewis said. "We definitely need bus monitors. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it."
A community meeting is being held Monday at the Bethel Baptist Church in Roxbury on the need for BPS bus monitoring on all buses.
It's a forum for other parents to come forward with issues and to learn more about Indya's Law.
Cox Media Group
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