School bus driver wore headphones, listened to music
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FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Depending on whom you ask, the video either shows something inappropriate, illegal, or a momentary lapse in judgment for an exemplary employee.
It doesn't last very long -- less than the length of an average music video -- but it shows that over the course of two days in October, a school bus driver in Federal Way broke the law.
To Kristin Willard, a mother of twins in the second grade there, it also shows something that stunned her.
"I just glance up and see wires coming down from her ears," said Willard, remembering the day she witnessed what was captured on tape. "You can't hear emergency vehicles. You can't hear the children (like that)."
"I wouldn't do it myself, so I can't think that she should be," added Willard, who says she walks her two kids to and from the bus stop each day.
On the tape, a school bus driver can be seen wearing headphones in her left ear as she shuttles children to and from Enterprise Elementary School. The driver was listening to music, said Diane Turner, chief communications officer for the district.
The driver was reprimanded as soon as the incident was brought to the district's attention, added Tony Moore, president of the Federal Way School Board.
"The ear bud was in one ear, which is still not appropriate, and we dealt with it completely," Moore said. "This person has a long record of great service in our district. This is not someone that is a repeat troublemaker on the edge."
"She has done a great job on that route," Moore added.
Driving with headphones -- in one ear or both -- and listening to music is a
violation of state law, said Trooper Guy Gill with the Washington State Patrol.
"When you have ear buds in, you're canceling your ability to hear emergency vehicles," Gill said, "even if nothing is coming out of there."
Moore said the driver in question has never been disciplined by the district before or since the incident in October. She started with Federal Way schools as a substitute driver in October 2009, officials added.
After the incident this fall, the district's director of transportation sent the driver a letter, reminding her that using cell phones and hands-free devices while driving are not allowed under district policy.
"Your position as a bus driver is critical to insuring student safety on the bus," the letter reads. "An accident or student injury occurring while a driver is wearing an ear bud would be construed as driver negligence and may be a liability to the District."
"This bus driver has a track record of delivering kids to school and from school safely," Moore said. "This is a model bus driver."
"We also hold it sacred to make sure every child is safe," he added
Willard said she's observed other safety issues regarding the bus in the past, and had asked parents in the neighborhood to sign a petition, asking the district to assign a different driver to the route.
The district, however, said it was unable to verify many of the signatures on the petition.
"I question everything (about the bus) now," Willard added, "because the trust has just broken down."
It doesn't last very long -- less than the length of an average music video -- but it shows that over the course of two days in October, a school bus driver in Federal Way broke the law.
To Kristin Willard, a mother of twins in the second grade there, it also shows something that stunned her.
"I just glance up and see wires coming down from her ears," said Willard, remembering the day she witnessed what was captured on tape. "You can't hear emergency vehicles. You can't hear the children (like that)."
"I wouldn't do it myself, so I can't think that she should be," added Willard, who says she walks her two kids to and from the bus stop each day.
On the tape, a school bus driver can be seen wearing headphones in her left ear as she shuttles children to and from Enterprise Elementary School. The driver was listening to music, said Diane Turner, chief communications officer for the district.
The driver was reprimanded as soon as the incident was brought to the district's attention, added Tony Moore, president of the Federal Way School Board.
"The ear bud was in one ear, which is still not appropriate, and we dealt with it completely," Moore said. "This person has a long record of great service in our district. This is not someone that is a repeat troublemaker on the edge."
"She has done a great job on that route," Moore added.
Driving with headphones -- in one ear or both -- and listening to music is a
violation of state law, said Trooper Guy Gill with the Washington State Patrol.
"When you have ear buds in, you're canceling your ability to hear emergency vehicles," Gill said, "even if nothing is coming out of there."
Moore said the driver in question has never been disciplined by the district before or since the incident in October. She started with Federal Way schools as a substitute driver in October 2009, officials added.
After the incident this fall, the district's director of transportation sent the driver a letter, reminding her that using cell phones and hands-free devices while driving are not allowed under district policy.
"Your position as a bus driver is critical to insuring student safety on the bus," the letter reads. "An accident or student injury occurring while a driver is wearing an ear bud would be construed as driver negligence and may be a liability to the District."
"This bus driver has a track record of delivering kids to school and from school safely," Moore said. "This is a model bus driver."
"We also hold it sacred to make sure every child is safe," he added
Willard said she's observed other safety issues regarding the bus in the past, and had asked parents in the neighborhood to sign a petition, asking the district to assign a different driver to the route.
The district, however, said it was unable to verify many of the signatures on the petition.
"I question everything (about the bus) now," Willard added, "because the trust has just broken down."
Do any of you actually have children? I can't believe what I am reading. Sounds to me like the bus driver has many anonymous accounts and is trashing a mom that is fighting for the safety of all of the children on that bus. Get a hobby? WOW I'm sure you are all glowing examples of loving caring parents....
@SocialInSeattle http://t.co/45eBvy6VqL
Good Lawd KW......get a grip, or a Dr. that specializes in mood disorders. I'd love to know what the resentment and vendetta is all about. There is definately more to this story. I feel for your kids living under your helicopter 24/7. This could easily be a Dr. Phil episode. You should write in with your story !!
Yes let's use more money to retrain this driver..... This is how you keep earbud out of your ear! REALLY that's a brilliant fricken remark... The driver was dealt with and hasn't done it again....get a damn life. If it is so damn unsafe drive your damn kids yourself.... As far as a seating chart being mean? Are really serious? Your kids are probably a reason she has a seating chart.... Instead of complaining about the obnoxious kids who conitinually don't listen to the driver say not to cross behind the bus, use your volunteer voice and help the driver address that not run to the damn news channels soyou can be on TV!!!! I think you are all about the attention for YOU....
KM let me ask you this, has the driver wore the earbuds after the District gave her the letter telling her not to? and where it list of other reprimands she has? I heard the school board president say she was a model driver. Sounds to me you are adding more and more stuff to this story. You said nothing to KOMO about the driver letting kids cross behind the bus or 3 to a seat. I have read most of the comment and no one is defending you in fact most think your crazy. so maybe you should get over it and drive your own kid to school and leave this poor driver alone.
I find it really sad that this mother wants to have this bus driver "reassined" to another rout. The driver apparently isnt good enough to driver her children around, but good enough to driver other kids around? WTF?Â
I can understand that it would be a little alarming that a bus driver "broke the rules" but seriously? She was held accountable for her "wrong doings" in October. This should have been a story in October, not now that 4 months have passed and this issue has been resolved LONG ENOUGH AGO TO GET OVER IT, KW!!!
NO, not just reassigned, BUT RETRAINED and reassigned. I don't this driver, as is, for anyone's child!!!!! "Held accountable" was she received a ltr. from District telling her she broke the law - don't do it again. I went thru all the proper channels of district an transportion for them to say her receipt of ltr in his regard was sufficient. I didn't believe so. Pls. feel free to read under KW all the other reprimands she's had but since they were not "illegal," the School Board President, per his own interview, doesn't acknowledge.Â
@KWÂ I wish I had nothing better to do but waste tax payers dollars
@KW
You say there's no vendetta, yet you avoid answering two key issues that I and others have raised:
By continuing to post without addressing these issues, you are just digging your hole deeper and deeper.
@KWÂ
WOW. You really have a hard on hate for this poor driver. Let it go. YOU are not her boss, the District Head of Transportation is - and they have already dealt with the earbuds issue months ago. YOU mayy "not bnelieve so" as far as it being sufficient, but YOU are not the authority here, you have no real weight beyond the district's disciplinary policies & actrions.
You REALLY need to get over yourself.
This has become a pretty sad issue, I understand the concern of the earbuds, but that was dealt with in October, done deal. Â
I have driven that same route in previous years with the twins as riders and I too had assigned seats, which all the parents were aware of, I received no comments from any parents.  Unless you have driven a bus with many children it is hard to understand the importance of having the children load in a safe manner, without pushing and shoving to get to a seat.  When a child has an assigned seat, they know just where they are going to sit and they are not wondering around looking for a place to sit or worried if another child will deny them a seat. Also it is helpful to the driver if dispatch is to call and ask if a certain student is on the bus because parents are  concerned. With assigned seating the driver becomes more familiar with their students and knowing who is who, not something easy to do when they are in a different seats everyday!Â
Since the ear bud issue was resolved in October, it leaves me to believe that there is more of a personal vendetta against this driver! Â Sad and unfortunate because I have had the opportunity to know her personally as well as professionally, Â if I had a choice as to what bus my child would ride on I would choose her hands down!
As for KOMO news, shame on you for not researching this issue fully, if you had you would find that this driver, who has since this incident was resolved in October, been continually harassed by KW.  Did you  truly research the said signatures of the the signed petition, or did you just want a quick story at the expense of this driver! Â
so you would put your child on a bus with the driver wearing earbuds listening to music, require they cram 3 to a seat when there's ample empty rows of seats, and do you require boys on right & girls on left, you allow 7 yolds to cross behind your bus & have to be reminded by your Director of Transportation it is driver responsibility, as is IN YOUR MANUAL, to tell kids to cross in front. Harrassment? Vendetta? This is just one after another after another unkind, unsafe and illegal offense by this driver. Just RETRAIN her & reassign her. Please
@KW As it has been made very clear the ear buds and seating have been addressed, as per your own comment. As for the children crossing behind the bus, the responsibility of the driver is to inform the child/parents of the safety issues of crossing behind the bus, it is the parents responsibility to see to it that the child gets to the bus safely.  There is a process of documenting the child being unsafe, once the driver has followed that process, and the child continues to to be unsafe, the child can, but doesn't always, lose their privilege to ride,  I hope that is not what you would want to happen, as not all children have other means of transportation to get to school, and therefore would miss out on their schooling!
Please understand, my comments are not meant to be mean but more matter of fact, unfortunately you opened this door, we reap what we sow! I sincerely hope you can move on.
@Justmy2bitsÂ
Thank you for explaining the rationale for the assigned seating. It makes perfect sense to me.
As for your last sentence, sadly, I think we all know the answer to that question. I suspect that interviewing some of the people who signed the petition would have made the picture much clearer for the reporter, and this story would have been reported very differently, if at all.
@Justmy2bits Thank you! I agree with you 100%. I feel bad for the driver!
That mom needs to chill out and find a hobby! Her poor kids.
@lovinTruth Agreed!! She seems like a real "PEACH".
Wait. She had an earphone in one ear? You can still hear everything. Â While I agree that a bus full of shrieking kids, who you cannot correct lest their helicopter parents scream abuse, I think that if she needs to listen to music while on the job, she should probably do something else. Â
But seriously.. Â these helicopter parents are the worst. Guess what? your kid will grow up despite all your attempts to smooth every single little pebble from their path. Thank God every single day that you are privileged to have your child grow up in a place where they will not starve to death, be killed in a war-torn regional conflict, or die of HIV as the millions of children do in countries where they have REAL problems. Â Seriously. Â Stop calling the media every time your precious snowflake encounters difficulty. Â (and people wonder why so many kids in the past 20 years are cutting themselves, on anti-depressants, and suicidal. Â They just want to feel SOMETHING, because their parents have done everything, and made sure that they are never able to solve their own problems.)
@DTÂ
First-world problems.
I am that Mom. It is now February because it takes that long. Here's what you didn't get to hear: 1. Demanding kids sit 3 to a seat when there are 6+ empty rows available. Driver was ultimately told not to by the district . TWO to a seat is in fact safer than THREE. 2. 7 yo girl almost hit by car twice crossing behind bus. Driver manual clearly states it is the responsibility of driver to ensure kids are crossing in front of bus. (Undiputed & once witnessed by Director of Transportion) 3. And yes, District told to me if I didn't like it I should drive my kids to school myself. Problem is this creates add'l hardship on parent volunteer & children run safety patrol already struggling with too many vehicles. 4. Do you think it is appropriate or necessary to demand of the kids that boys sit on one side of bus and girls on the other side? When brought to districts attn., they did tell driver not to do this as it was not appropriate.
These are elementary sch. children. They are not horrible kids. Mandatory seat assignment is reserved for bad behavior. But, not here. Unwarranted, she demands seat assignment.  None of this is kind or safe ultimately resulting in her finally driving illegally with the earbuds. I'd like to further note I don't text or talk on phone while driving. Retraining of this driver and only then assigning her to another route is all I'm asking.
2
@KWÂ It really just seems like you have a vendetta. The driver was reprimanded. And on the seating assignment - pretty sure the driver doesn't tell you how to do your job, you should leave the details of getting your child to school safely up to her.Â
@KW I think you should put this passion to get drivers off the roads towards getting drunk drivers off the road, rather than chasing after a bus driver who broke one rule and has since been punished and stopped doing what she got in trouble for. Your kids would be a lot safer if there weren't repeat drunk drivers doing the same things over and over again. Try focusing on them.
@KW And just because the kids are elementary does not make them instant angels. Kids can be real a-holes. That's just the truth. Maybe, just maybe, your kids are angels. But I'd be willing to bet money there is at least one little hellion on that bus every day.
@KWÂ
Thank you for clarifying your position. I am not going to tell you what to get upset about when it comes to your kids. But I will say that inconsistencies in your story make you seem disingenuous.
You seem to be saying that you are SO concerned about this driver that you feel she should not be driving until she is retrained, yet you continue to let your children board the bus. The safety of your children should trump any "add'l hardship on parent volunteer & children run safety patrol already struggling with too many vehicles" argument. You would come across as more sincere if you vowed to drive your kids to school UNTIL the district took the action you requested against this driver.
The real kicker is your last sentence: "Retraining of this driver and only then reassigning her to another route is all I'm asking." If she gets retrained, why would she need to be reassigned to another route? If retraining makes her "safe" in your eyes, why couldn't she continue with her current route? And if retraining does not accomplish this, why would it be OK for her to drive somebody else's kids?
@Central @KW I just dont understand why KW insists on getting the driver put on a different rout. She's basically saying the driver isn't good enough to drive her kids but its ok for the driver to drive other kids around.Â
@KW You really should pull the stick you have lodged in your "you know what".Â
@KWÂ I'm sorry.. what? You're complaining that it's "mean" to make the kids sit in assigned seats? We sat in assigned seats in elementary school, and frankly it's SAFER. Â The drivers can easily keep track of the kids, and knows which kids get off at which stop. Why do you think teachers have assigned seating in class? Â Seriously. Â And yes, I think it's a great idea to have boys on one side, girls on the other. Works much better to keep kids from moving around when a boy starts teasing or bothering a girl (because that is what they do.) Â Seriously... the parents that run to the media when their little darling encounters any problems, just embarrasses your children. Â Do some research on life for a child in Somalia.. and take to heart what real problems are. Â Upset about seat assignments? First World problem. Â Â @KW Â
"School bus driver wore headphones, listened to music"
It's OTTO the bus driver from the Simpsons!
If this incident occured back in October and has since been addressed and rectified why has it turned into a media story NOW??? Could it be that this is a story because Kristen Willard isn't content to let go of her role as indignant parent? If Ms. Willard wants the spotlight so badly I say we give it to her. Let's have somebody follow her around for 24 hours and see how long it takes before this "perfect Mother" gets caught texting or talking on her cellphone while driving with her precious twins in the car.
@Petwlkr because she's mad that the driver makes the kids sit in assigned seats.Â
by no means perfect, but def. don't drive around w/earbuds, talking or texting on cell phone. Someone once told me if you're not going to do something about it, don't complain about it so I'm just trying to get driver hopefully retrained and only then possibly reassigned
And i hope you fail miserably at what you're trying to do. I seriously think you've taken this too far.
@KWÂ Again... your stick is seriously lodged...Â
The bus driver paid the consequences. She broke the rules and should be able to move on from this. Nobody was hurt and agreed to not do it again. What the heck else do you want? Their first born? People make mistakes. I hope you stop this witch hunt you are trying to stir up. Seriously.
It is illegal to use headphones to listen to music while driving, whether it be one ear or both. And it's against district policy, so the bus driver was wrong. Now, what I want to know is, why did this mom wait until February to report this to the news if it happened in October???? Did she want to shame the bus driver?  And if she feels her children are in danger from riding on the bus with this particular driver, why would she continue to put her children on that bus???? Doesn't she have an obligation to protect her children? So, who's being neglignet now????
I didn't wait til February. I did NOT want it to come to this whatsoever. I've been going thru all the District's channels.Â
@KWÂ
You state you "did not want it to come to this". So, what exactly WERE you wanting it to come to?Â
This happened MONTHS ago - why bring it to KOMO now, after the district has already dealt with it? Seems like simply sour grapes - you wanted the bus driver fired, that did not happen, now you are trying to get people to sign petitions & trying to put pressure on the district to get the driver fired.
@KW I hope you fail. Â
@traceywo "It is illegal to use headphones to listen to music while driving, whether it be one ear or both. And it's against district policy, so the bus driver was wrong"Â
No it is not illegal, go read the law again. - The law states this in RCW 46.37.480 (2):
"No person shall operate any motor vehicle on a public highway while wearing any headset or earphones connected to any electronic device capable of receiving a radio broadcast or playing a sound recording for the purpose of transmitting a sound to the human auditory senses and which headset or earphones muffle or exclude other sounds."
Note the "and which headset or earphones muffle or exclude other sounds"Â
I would argue that not all headphones exclude other sounds. I would also say that some sets of headphones do not muffle sounds either. The mother's claim of not hearing emergency vehicles is garbage, or please tell me what headset she is referring to because I would like to purchase a set of them.
Furthermore if only one ear has a headphone in it then there is clearly no muffling of sounds.
I cannot attest to the policy for the district, so I won't.
Try it - puts some earbuds in - she clearly has the non-isolation type, so use the same - then hold a conversation, you can if you have the volume set somewhere reasonable. Again she clearly did as she could hear people talking to her, but the background noise of a bus full of kids means she needed to focus hard to listen, hence she remove the earbud.Â
BTW hearing and listening are not the same thing either.
Is it unsafe - go find me some real evidence from an impartial study and I will listen, until then I will go with my own empirical evidence.
A school bus driver should not wear earbuds. No radio. No cell phone. They are working.Â
@mac14Â Ok and the driver was reprimanded. Like all jobs. They dont just fire you straight out. Heck, there's guys at goldman sachs who lost 4billion in a day and they still have jobs.
thank you. I didn't think it was too much to ask that District put driver thru repeat or add'l training and reassign.
@KW Re assigned ? To what? Unemployment? If you feel as if the driver isn't good enough for your kids bus route, what makes you think they are good enough for another route? OHHH that's right. As long as its not your children being put in danger... right. Â
Why does everyone assume that we all have the exact same abilities when it comes to attention. Â Ever ridden with a rage-aholic type? Â You know, they drive their car, the car in front of them all the cars beside them - yelling when folks make illegal turns and don't signal. Â For some, there is TOO much attention paid to the road, wearing ONE earbud does not keep you from hearing emergency vehicles. Â Perhaps she was listening to a book on tape... no different than another voice from someone in the passenger seat. Â
This mom totally over reacted. Â I think she might be good at home-schooling her kid and keeping that child from ever interacting in the world the rest of us live in (PS - this is NOT a slam at home schoolers... just the only method I can imagine to keep this voracious mama at bay).
It is still illegal for this woman to do that, and it's a violation of disctrict policy.Â
@traceywo And she was punished for it. Case closed.
Mom cares so much about her kid's safety in the car she puts them in someone else's bus.
@cohenkomo http://t.co/VpsfXQDNy3
This happened in OCTOBER. I'm out.Â
I think that Mom has way too much time on her hands and needs to get some interests besides her kids or they are going to wind up in therapy when they get older. I get calling the bus driver out for it initially, but that Mom has taken it way too far. The school districted took appropriate actions and dealt with it, that should be the end of the story. I think it's more dangerous to stress that driver out by the witch hunt and sicking the news on her than it was to have music in one ear.
@nomad Maybe she should driver her own darn kids to school.
@nomad then the parents wonder why their kids have zero ability to solve their own problems. I saw this all the time when my girls where in school a few years ago. The parents were constantly "advocating" for their kids (I coached kids sports and it was the WORST part!) Advocating is basically a fancy term for 'spending all your time looking for any indication that your precious snowflake might not get everything that you want for them' (notice I say "everything YOU want," because kids by nature are not looking for the next outrage, the next reason to scream at the Principal, or call the media.  Kids are learning that they never have to solve their own problems... God help them in the real world.Â