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Hillsborough begins school bus driver training, promises raises

 
School bus driver Anna Brown writes down techniques for correcting student behavior Monday during a transportation training day at Tampa Bay Technical High. More than 1,000 transportation employees met for the sessions at two locations.
School bus driver Anna Brown writes down techniques for correcting student behavior Monday during a transportation training day at Tampa Bay Technical High. More than 1,000 transportation employees met for the sessions at two locations.
Published Oct. 21, 2014

TAMPA — The healing for Hillsborough County's ailing school bus system began Monday, a student day off, at King High School.

Superintendent MaryEllen Elia promised an auditorium full of drivers that, subject to a School Board vote, they will all get pay raises.

New transportation general manager Jim Beekman spoke of service, quoting Mahatma Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

And in the classrooms, drivers got two hours of instruction in CHAMPS, a system the schools use to manage student behavior. They were advised to make their expectations clear, to publicly praise, but privately criticize, and to greet each child by name.

Some were skeptical.

"When there's 77 children on the bus and they're touching each other in the aisles, there's no way I can get that personal. I'm trying to focus on the road," driver Renita Long said.

Others focused on strategies that have proven effective — such as flicking the lights to get attention or rewarding good behavior with school-issued coupons the kids can exchange for prizes.

"It's not a quick fix," said session leader Wendy Huriaux, who promised more training.

Indeed, no one thinks the healing will happen overnight.

For months last spring, workers complained about low wages, dilapidated buses and unpaid hours spent stranded on the roadside or waiting for inspections. Some, in comments at district focus groups, alleged administrators do not back drivers up, teachers look down on them, and unruly students remain on the bus even after they've been disciplined at school.

"Students that have long histories of bad and unsafe behavior continue to ride because customer service is more important than safety," one worker wrote.

CHAMPS stands for Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation and Success. It begins with clear instruction (conversation) in what is expected of students, followed by how to ask for help and what types of activity and movement are acceptable. Using hand signals, the driver calls for zero level speaking; level one, a whisper; then two and three for quiet speech. Four and five, acceptable on a playground, are never allowed on the bus.

In addition to training and the promised pay raises of 8 to 10 percent, the district is on track to buy 100 new buses a year.

But even the driver contract vote did not happen without complications. Some drivers, including former Hillsborough School Employees Federation president Vicki Lawry, say the instructions were confusing and people at the polls coerced them into voting yes on the package.

Despite the controversy in the ranks, Elia told the group the contract was ratified by 94 percent of all represented workers.

Multiple committees and task forces are advising Elia on needed improvements. She encouraged the workers to speak to their supervisors and representatives about their concerns.

"I get up early in the morning and you're the first ones that I pray for," she said, "Because you're the first ones who see our students in the morning."

Reach Marlene Sokol at (813) 226-3356 or msokol@tampabay.com. Follow @marlenesokol.