BUTLER TWP — A group of Valley Lines bus drivers aired grievances about safety and student discipline Monday night before the Butler School Board.

Vicky Fleske, a bus driver for 25 years, said that in recent years the district has not been disciplining students and supporting the drivers properly.

“We're trying to discipline our kids on the bus and trying to get them to and from school safe, but the drivers are giving up on writing up (misbehaving students) because we're writing and writing and writing and we're not getting anything back from the district. There's no discipline being done,” Fleske said.

Several of the drivers referenced a recent incident in which the district told Valley Lines to remove a driver from his route after he broke from established procedure in disciplining middle school students by doing a “brake check” last week in downtown Butler.

Administrators reviewed surveillance video from the bus and determined that the driver had not followed established protocols — which would have included pulling over the bus and having a principal or administrator come in person to the bus.

Several drivers said Monday that a zero tolerance or “one-strike” policy for drivers makes them fearful that they could lose their jobs at any time.

Clarissa Boden, another driver, said that she has had students who habitually misbehave and were never punished.

“We see drivers being dismissed for safety issues yet, we continue to see students riding the buses daily standing up, who may be hanging out in the aisles or jumping seats,” Boden said. “This can be a daily occurrence with some students and we as drivers may write it up every single day and yet that unsafe behavior is allowed to continue on the bus.”

In response to the comments from about 10 drivers and community members, school Superintendent Brian White acknowledged that the district's process for disciplining students has not been working and that it needs to be changed.

“What I see is not a level I would consider safe or acceptable,” he said.

White noted that there is a seven-step process in place to handle complaints about students' behavior. The system is often inefficient and communication has sometimes been poor between the busing contractor and school administrators, he said.

White said he has requested data and reports from principals and is planning to meet with Valley Lines officials later this week to set up a group of people who will work on overhauling procedures for disciplining students.

White said that drivers, teachers, principals, students and parents all need to work together to address some of the behavioral problems seen on the buses.

“It's all around culture. If we have a culture of high expectations in everything we do then we are going to be better off all around. Where we're at right now, none of us are happy. We want our kids to do well in everything they do and it starts here with them on the bus in the morning,” he said.