KCS Board of Ed exploring ways to hold bus drivers more accountable

Knox County School Board members are looking into ways to make bus drivers more accountable.

"This is one time where I think a student reporting something that they have a concern about needs to be heard immediately and dealt with," Karen Carson said. "I would love to see us explore starting a program where a student can take a picture of a driver using a cell phone - a bus driver using a cell phone, have a hotline that they can send it to and that the school system could respond immediately."

Board member Patti Bounds agrees the district needs, "to empower the children, the feeling that they can talk about these things in a safe way with their parents," she said. "For the parents, too-- probably one of the best things to do would, not necessarily a hotline, but a way to report these things to the proper authorities so that they can be addressed and handled."

Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre, Knox County sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones and Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch met on Monday, to discuss possible enhanced safety guidelines when it comes to school bus drivers. McIntyre said details of that plan should be available in August, closer to the start of the school year.