Be at your child's bus stop, or else

Tammy Berryhill remembers when a kindergartner got off at the wrong bus stop two years ago.

The boy had special needs and didn't talk. Luckily, another parent found him and called Berryhill, the principal at Mittye P. Locke Elementary, and she drove the child home.

The scare prompted a safety plan at the New Port Richey school. Children received a color-coded tag, like a hospital wristband, with name and bus stop number. The band goes on backpacks and book bags so teachers and bus drivers can see quickly whether students are in the right place.

It worked so well every public elementary school in Pasco County now uses the system.

"It's a safety measure that's invaluable," Berryhill said.

And it's an idea that's spreading.

Public schools in Pinellas and Polk counties also have bus-rider identification programs, and schools as far as Colorado have expressed interest in the Pasco procedure.

Beginning Tuesday, when school starts in Hillsborough County, an estimated 3,900 kindergartners riding a bus in the afternoon in the Bay area's largest school district will get with the program, too.

This one comes with a penalty: Hillsborough kindergartners risk suspension from the bus if drivers must bring them back to school repeatedly because no one was at the bus stop to meet them. Most suspensions are one to three days, but can be longer if the problem persists.

Parents may also get a bill for the after-school care.

Bus drivers and principals pushed for the changes, Hillsborough Superintendent MaryEllen Elia told the school board recently, "to make sure we can be responsible for our very youngest children."

Reports say 14 left alone

They spoke from experience.

Last school year, the Hillsborough district received reports that 14 bus drivers left a kindergarten student at a bus stop without an adult or older sibling present. Only one report couldn't be verified, district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said.

The drivers involved underwent training, and their evaluations will reflect poor judgment, Cobbe said. Twelve were suspended for one day. One received a three-day suspension. Two were removed from their routes for the rest of the year.

State law requires a guardian to be present at bus stops for pre-kindergarten students and those with special needs, but it isn't mandatory for kindergartners.

School transportation officials in Pinellas, Pasco and Polk say they don't receive many complaints from parents about children dropped off without supervision.

The story is different in Hillsborough.

"It's one of the biggest concerns we deal with on a daily basis," said Luis Perez, president of the Hillsborough Employees Federation, the union representing about 1,400 bus drivers.

The drivers overwhelmingly support the new policy, Perez said, in part because it protects them, too.

"We just wanted something that, to be honest, put some of the responsibility back with the parents," Perez said.

It's not easy figuring out which parent is waiting for which kid, especially if they never get out of the car, Perez said.

"Don't wait in your car," he pleads with parents.

Some parents forget to communicate with administrators about changes to children's routines, such as doctor's appointments, when they might ride the bus in the morning but not in the afternoon.

But administrators need to be held accountable, too, Perez said.

If drivers don't receive a list of riders from the school each day, "we tell them, 'Don't move that bus.'"

Tags to be distributed

This year, families with kindergartners at traditional public elementary schools should receive green tags with the child's name, school telephone number and bus number. More will be available at the schools for students who enroll on the first day of classes or later in the week, Cobbe said.

The tags attach to students' book bags and must be shown to the bus driver every afternoon.

Kindergartners will sit at the front of the bus, as they have since 2004. An older sibling can sit with them, as young as a first-grader, Cobbe said.

In Pinellas, where classes also begin Tuesday, schools match elementary students and buses through color-coded bands and other methods, said T. Mark Hagewood, manager of school transportation.

The district's 545 drivers use a seating chart, Hagewood said. School officials also are discussing forms for parents to identify who will regularly meet younger students at bus stops.

In Polk County, where school starts Monday, students in kindergarten through third grade are given a card to fill out with parent contacts, bus stop numbers and other information, said Rob Davis, director of transportation.

If they don't return it, some schools use tags or bands to ensure students are on the right bus and at the right stop, he said.

In Pasco, where about 36,000 children ride the bus each day, elementary students are required to keep the bands on their backpacks for at least the first two weeks of school, said transportation director Gary Sawyer.

Some, like New River Elementary in Wesley Chapel, ask every student to wear a band all year, including those whose parents pick them up and those who walk home by themselves.

"It's become a routine," Principal Lynn Pabst said.

When the final bell rang Wednesday at New River, buses bearing placards colored red, blue, green, hot pink and black lined up along the sidewalk.

About 450 students with Hannah Montana and Spider-Man backpacks trickled outside toward the buses whose colors corresponded with their bands.

In less than 10 minutes, every student was on the bus and headed home.

It made Pabst, a veteran principal, rest easier.

"When you get the call that a 5-year-old isn't where he's supposed to be, it's a feeling that makes your stomach sink," she said. "You don't want that to ever happen."

Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached at (813) 259-7144.