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Schools

Should Parents Get on the Bus or Take It Easy?

Each week, Patch features a different question from our local Moms Council. Join the discussion, submit a comment or suggest a question for next week.

Recently, the mother of a bullied Florida girl was arrested after she boarded a school bus and confronted the alleged bully, who happened to be the driver. Laura Booker of Sanford, FL, said requests to speak with district officials since the beginning of the school year were ignored. Meanwhile, Booker's daughter said the driver continued to verbally attack her.

This brings us to the topic of this week's Moms Talk Q&A discussion. To kick off the conversation, members of the Canton-Sixes Patch Moms Council offered their thoughts. You can join the dialogue and submit your comments below.

Q: Do you think the Florida mother's response was appropriate? How would you have responded?

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A: "Parents with concerns or complaints that need to be addressed by the bus driver should schedule a conference with the driver through the school," according to Section VII, Page 27 of the  Student/Parent Handbook and Discipline Code. Under no circumstances should parents distract the driver by boarding the bus or complaining at the bus stop. Student safety must be top priority during this time. 

By getting on the bus and confronting the bus driver, the Florida mother not only distracted the driver, but created an unsafe environment for those students, including her own. It's why school districts nationwide come up with these rules. The Florida mother should have been more patient and let school officials do their jobs.

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Leslie Olejnik, mother of two

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