TAMPA, FL -- An ABC Action News investigation has discovered that one bay area school district is out of compliance with a state code meant to protect drivers and passengers on school buses. The Hillsborough County School District does not have a policy prohibiting school bus drivers from talking on cell phones and texting while behind the wheel.
School bus drivers have a serious responsibility; getting our kids to school and back home safely.
So what would you think if you saw, as we did, a school bus driver chatting it up on her cell phone while waiting for a light to turn green -- and still chatting it up as she moves through an intersection, even momentarily taking her hands off the wheel?
"That would be a problem,” says Steve Hegarty, spokesperson for the Hillsborough County School District.
In Lithia, it wasn't talking on a cell phone that was the problem. It was what 7th grader Patrick Lane says his school bus driver was doing with the cell phone.
What did he tell his mom Kathy Lane when he got off the bus?
"The very first thing was ‘don't get mad, the bus driver was texting’. So I did get mad,” Kathy said.
“I was enraged. I can't believe anybody was so careless and 64 children on a bus that don't belong to that woman. It was very upsetting and I can't believe she thought it was ok to do so," she continued.
In another instance, we found this Hillsborough County school bus driver stopped one recent morning for a red light at the corner of Bearss and Dale Mabry. She keeps taking her cell phone out of her breast pocket. She looks down. She's doing something. She looks up. She drives away.
We also spotted other bus drivers talking on cell phones while driving at a number of intersections around the county.
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Unfortunately, these drivers may well have thought it was alright to talk on her phone while driving because not only is there no state law making it illegal, Hillsborough County doesn't even have a policy when it comes to texting or talking on cell phones while driving a school bus.
"Policy is a formal term that the school board votes on. So when you ask is there a policy and I say no that doesn't mean we don't prohibit it," says Hegarty.
Hillsborough School bus drivers are told in newsletters that "cell phone usage is prohibited when on your school bus."
But does a newsletter have the same weight as policy?
We asked Hegarty if there is enough wiggle room in that school bus drivers could say “we didn't know”.
He responded with a resounding “no!”
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The fact is the Florida Department of Education says “All Florida school districts are required to have a policy in place prohibiting public school bus operator's use of cell phones while actively drivinga school bus." The prohibition, also applies to "texting."
Polk County has a policy. In Pinellas County, it's in the school bus driver handbook.
The Florida PTA has just voted to urge legislators to pass a statewide ban.
But there is no official policy in Hillsborough County right now.
"I was surprised to learn there was no official policy. I think the policy hasn't kept up with the technology," says PTA President Melissa Erickson.
Since the beginning of the school year, there have been more than a half dozen complaints about Hillsborough County bus drivers talking on cell phones or texting while they're driving. In 5-6 cases, verbal warnings were issued to drivers.
But Steve Hegarty says these cases can be a “very difficult thing to prove.”
Why is it so difficult for school officials to find out whether or not bus drivers are distracted? After all school busses have video cameras to monitor the kids. But the cameras are pointed at the kids, not the bus drivers.
The Hillsborough County School District says it's finally working on a policy banning the use of cell phone by bus drivers. It's not clear when school board members will vote on the policy or whether drivers will adhere to it.
