JAY — At the Regional School Unit 73 board of directors meeting Thursday night, June 22, director Holly Morris of Livermore gave a report on her experiences serving as a bus monitor the last four days of the school year, June 12-15.

At the last board meeting, Transportation Director Norma Jackman said cellphone use was one of the biggest issues on buses in RSU 73. She requested policies for cellphone use on buses be developed for next year and to inform parents of school bus conduct rules prior to the start of school. In May she reported student behavior was worsening on buses.

“I rode four different buses,” Morris said. “On Monday, I rode with Caleb Greenleaf. His bus is kindergarten through grade five, all in-town Livermore Falls students.”

That bus was very loud with lots of distractions, she noted. Morris rode on the morning bus runs, was told the afternoon ones tend to be worse.

Students would ask the driver for a tissue, he would allow them to come get one at the next stop, she said. The driver would also let them bring them up to the trash can at a later stop, she noted.

“A lot of socializing happens on the buses, safety doesn’t enter students’ thought process,” Morris said. “Some children liked to talk to the bus driver which is quite distracting.”

On Tuesday Morris rode on Leo St. Pierre’s bus for kindergarten through grade 12 students in East Livermore. There was lots of drama on the bus with younger students at the front and older students in the back, she said. “More of the same issues, feet in the aisle, loud talking, playing with stuffed animals and passing them back and forth,” she noted. “Very distracting when you are driving a bus.”

Wednesday Morris rode with Peter Crowley, another kindergarten through grade 12 bus in East Livermore. The bus was loud with lots of family drama and eating on the bus, she said. One student said they could so long as they didn’t make a mess, which he was, she noted. The student asked her to throw the pastry away for him and she told him he could do so when he exited the bus, she stated.

Thursday Morris rode with Jeannette Whitman on a bus that transports all grade levels in parts of Livermore Falls. It was the last day of school and there were no grade eight to 12 students on the bus, she noted. The students were well behaved, there were no feet in the aisles, she said.

“The noise was at a minimum,” she stated. “I could carry on a conversation with Jeannette and hear most every word.”

When the bus stopped at the railroad crossing the driver turned on the interior lights, the kids were all quiet, Morris said. Turning on the interior lights gets the kids attention, this was the only bus that did that, she noted.

On most of the buses the kids are turned sideways with their feet and half their bodies in the aisle making it difficult for the driver to see past them or out the back window, Morris noted. She didn’t witness a lot of cell phone use or misuse, might have seen more on an afternoon run.

Morris reviewed policy already in place that covers most of the issues. “We need to implement it, to update it,” she noted. “Norma would really like to see us get this done before the start of next year. I think the policy committee needs to take a look at this and really work on helping her out and having the principals back the bus drivers and Norma. Get a handle on this because if we don’t it is only going to get worse.”

Morris plans to serve as a bus monitor in the fall and even take an afternoon off work to ride.

“I encourage the rest of you to join me so we can get this taken care of,” she said. “Our buses are considered a good place for kids to be. They are the first and last interaction we have with these children every day. Let’s make it the best and safest part of their day.”

Superintendent Scott Albert said he would set up a meeting with Jackman and the principals to look at policy that should be taking place or being adhered to.

“There are some things in there we need to take a look at, definitely need to crack down on,” he noted. “If we don’t do those things, we are going to have issues.”

There is policy versus student handbook versus procedure, Joel Pike, director from Jay and chair of the policy committee, said. The current policy is an abbreviated version, no longer includes the details it once did that don’t belong in policy, he noted. “There is a meshing here of where is the right place to have specific details,” he stated.

When asked, Morris said she got on the bus at 6:40 a.m., the first student was picked up between 6:45 and 6:50 a.m.

Don Emery, director from Livermore Falls, thanked Morris for her efforts, her bravery.

“I would like to join and jump on a bus in the fall as well,” he said.

In other business, directors approved the request for members of the robotics team to go on an end of year trip to Boston. Blue Crew FIRST Robotics Competition team 6153 from Mt. Blue High School in Farmington, which includes members from Spruce Mountain High School will be leaving from Jay on June 29 for a visit to the Boston Museum of Science.

“We will be leaving there about 3 p.m., heading to the Merry Manor in Portland, spending the night down there,” Mason Labonte, a team member told directors, adding, “and having an end of year celebration to celebrate our seniors and all of the accomplishments this year.”

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