Deputies Placed on School Buses after Violent Incident

Bartow, FL

After a violent incident on a school bus in which a student was knocked unconscious by a "sucker punch" to the head, a Florida school district is placing off-duty deputies on 12 routes.  This is a temporary move to "guarantee the safety of kids".  Video of the incident.

Analysis
Placing deputies on school buses should be a short-term plan.  The school might also plan to exclude from the school bus those students who engage in violence.  In Indiana, and elsewhere, courts have ruled that school-provided transportation is not a right, but a privilege.  Check you won state laws and school policies to see if such is the case at your school.

The first step for many schools is to remember that the authority of the schools extend to the school bus, as well as the responsibility for keeping students safe.  Take some time and assess how your school is meeting that responsibility.  After all, school-transportation related fatalities are the number one form of death in K-12 schools (Satterly, 2014).