Safe Rider Program “Safely Transporting Our Future” Presented by: Rick S. Grisham Executive Director Transportation Department Cobb County School District

FAST FACTS about COBB COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT: County Footage – 345 Sq Miles Total Number of Schools – 114 Students Enrolled – 106,000 Students Transported – 96,000 Student Demographics: White: 46.2% Black: 30.6% Hispanic: 14.4% Asian: 1.2% Multi-Racial: 3.9% American Indian: 0.1% Elementary Schools – 68 Middle Schools - 25 High Schools - 16 Open Campus High School - 1 Special Education Centers - 2 Adult Education Center - 1 Performance Learning Center - 1

FAST FACTS about COBB COUNTY TRANSPORTATION: #5 in the Nation for Pupil Ridership #17 in size of Fleet in the Nation Conventional Buses – 868 Special Needs Buses – 281 Drivers – 978 Monitors – 135 Staff – 21 Fleet Staff – 55 Routes Run per Day – 887 Bus Stops per Day – 21,596 Miles Traveled – 72,181/day or 12,992,580/year Field Trips – approximately 12,086

CCSD Transportation Budget: FY2009: $38,363,987 FY2010: $36,649,011 CCSD Fleet Budget: FY2009: $11,179,890 FY2010: $9,513,444

CCSD Strategic Plan: Objective 1.3: Continue to evaluate and improve focus on public safety. Indicators BaselineResultsTargets Increase student awareness of safe behavior practices by reducing student offenses in the following areas: 2% 10% overall Fighting & Bullying Drugs Weapons Gang-related incidents Improve bus discipline at all levels through implementation of the Safe Rider Bus program. No Data Available Priority1: MS(25) Priority2: ES (70) Priority3: HS(16) Pilot at 2 MS: 58% reduction in referrals 30 schools: SRP 20 MS; 9 ES; 1 HS: 58% total reduction in referrals 10% 22 MS 10 ES 2 HS 10% 24 MS 11 ES 2 HS 10% 100% MS 14 ES 3 HS 10% 100% MS 17 ES 3 HS 50% overall 100% MS 21 ES 4 HS

What is Safe Rider? The Safe Rider Program is a new approach to student management for school buses. The core of the program is promoting personal accountability as it relates to bus behavior.

Why is Safe Rider Needed?  Poor student behavior is the most reported difficulty by drivers.  46% of school bullying happens on the school bus*.  Overloading school administrators with countless bus referrals.  Misbehavior endangers the safety of all passengers. *Source: Kamaron Institute 2006

Parent Concern  475,000 school buses carry 25 million children- more than half of America’s school children each day, rarely with any serious accident.  Six in Ten parents are concerned about having their children ride the School Bus, the same six in ten parents consider the School Bus to be an important part of the education system*. Source: * American School Bus Council Partner “Tool Kit”

Safe Rider Concept Transportation Staff StudentParent Administrator

How is this achieved?  Training  Communication  Education  Steadfast Support Are you included in the decision making process?  Partnerships Incentive programs

Safe Rider Program  Designed to promote instant accountability.  Model is adaptable to any demographic and school climate.  Promotes Safe/Unsafe vs Behave/Misbehave.  Gradual Plan with Remediation Techniques.  R Reminds students that riding the School Bus is a Privilege.  Invites all parties to become members of the Safe Rider Team.

Safe Rider Program Graduated Discipline Plan Driver always starts with the “Addressing Misbehavior“ Card  1st Offense – Driver Student Conference & Parent Contacted by Courtesy Notice. Student on probation and re-assigned to the front of Bus for one week.  2nd Offense – Driver Student Conference & Parent Contacted by Courtesy Notice. Student on probation and re-assigned to the front of Bus for two weeks.  3rd Offense* – Referral submitted, 3 Days Bus Suspension (or six school). Upon return student on probation and re-assigned to the front of Bus for one week.  4th Offense* – Referral submitted, 5 Days Bus Suspension (or ten school) and *Conference required to return to bus.  5th Offense – Referral submitted, Transportation Director recommends Bus suspension for the remainder of the year. *Safe Rider Class and New Behavior Contract Required. Steps may be skipped if a student violates a rule while on assigned seat or probation The following is in addition to removing unsafe riders on the way home:

Advantages of Safe Rider  Promotes 360° accountability for bus safety.  Empowers drivers with valuable tools.  Shares workload reducing stress on all parties.  Teaches the valuable lesson of teamwork.  Provides a road map for school administrators.  Increases retention rate of our drivers.

Plan of Action: Year 1 1.Assemble a Safe Rider Committee consisting of Drivers, Monitors, Transportation Supervisors. Review current student management process Develop a model/forms Presentation preparation 2.Attain permission from the Superintendent to try a Pilot program in two schools with the most disciplinary problems. (BOE Presentation) 3.Present SRP to each pilot school administration. Present to Transportation staff. Identify the person(s) responsible for instant accountability Determine how/when to roll out the program 4.Communicate SRP start date to parents. Letters from school administrators and drivers, s, PTA, School website 5.Conduct driver training. Assertive Discipline Graduated Discipline Plan “Addressing Misbehavior” Card

Plan of Action: Year 1 cont. 6. Conduct a driver meeting with school administration to confirm the plan and roles. 7.Track data – if available, compare current with historical data. 8.Obtain feedback from drivers and school staff; list areas to improve. 9.Expand to additional schools. Start with Middle Schools, then start a High School and Elementary School pilot program. Invite other schools to join. 10.Request end of year suggestions, tweak areas as needed. 11. Present BOE with information on Pilot. Show data of improvement. Our Middle School improvement: reduction of referrals-58% average, some as high as 70%.

Plan of Action: Year 2 Expand Pilots Courtesy Notice used by ALL 1.At end of 1 st year: letter to Principals, including ppt of program; offer a presentation by SRP committee member to customize the model. 2.Introduce the Courtesy Notice to used by Conventional and SPED drivers. 3.Include the SRP in your Administrative Rules. Get the BOE to adopt this into policy. 4.Present the program to school Kick Off meetings and Open House. Put the ppt on school websites; include the SRP at regular transportation monthly meetings and newsletters. 5.Circulate the Good News through a county press release and local media. 6.Continue tracking data. All levels will become safer, increase driver satisfaction, and improve relations between school and transportation staff.

MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AS NEEDED…. THIS IS A “LIVE” DOCUMENT/PROGRAM