Why I voted NO

Below is a brief blog by the Education Reporter Scott Elliot.


Get On The Bus
White in Greenville today; board talks transportation rule
| Written by Scott Elliott |


Eugene White was absent from tonight school board meeting as he spent the day in Greenville, S.C., interviewing for the superintendent job there and meeting with community people. Here is the Greenville News’ story about him from Monday.

The board meeting, itself, was pretty routine, except for one issue — school employees transporting students in their personal vehicles.

The board voted unanimously to fire Northwest High School Vice Principal Michael Allen for transporting a student in his private vehicle. School officials said the district was alerted to the infraction by the student’s mother and that the Indiana Department of Child Services is investigating Allen’s actions with the student.

IPS made transporting students in private vehicles a fireable offense last year after a student was killed in a car accident while riding with a school employee.

But Allen’s case raised to the board’s attention concerns about whether the policy is too tough. No board members objected specifically to Allen’s firing, but the fact that the board was actually firing employees under the rule caused some board members concern.

What if a school employee transports a relative, neighbor or friend who is an IPS student? School officials acknowledged that employee could be fired under the rule.

So on Tuesday, the board approved a waiver process. Employees who wish to transport students with whom they have a personal relationship can, with the permission of the child’s parent, receive a waiver from the rule.

Some board members still expressed qualms about the the stringent nature of the original rule, worrying that some employees could put themselves in jeopardy without realizing it if they fail to get a waiver. But the waiver process was passed 5-2.


A few months back I voted in favor of the new policy regarding the transporting of students. I should have asked more questions. Apparently now, this includes ANY IPS employee transporting ANY IPS student. This is a big concern for me. I have friends that are teachers. Those teachers have children that are friends with my kids. If they want to take one of my kids to the movie they can be fired. If they bring my daughter home from an overnight and drop her off, they can be fired. This is definitely invading way too much on someone's private life, their life outside of school. Sure, there is a form they can fill out. But will they know they need to? Who is in charge of these forms? I know if I had to fill out a form for every IPS student I have placed in my car I would need dozens of forms. Most of my kids friends attend IPS. This was not discussed when we first approved the policy.

So, why did I vote no on something that seems to give an option to transport? Initially I tried to table the motion until after the next policy meeting. Hopefully we could look more seriously into this policy at that time. However, the motion to postpone did not pass. 3 to 4. So I voted no. I did not want to complicate the situation any further.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. I just thought I would share my thoughts. If you are an IPS employee I highly suggest you protect yourself. Hopefully the board can rethink the policy. But I fear that it is doubtful. When someone is so far removed from having an actual connection to IPS and its students, it is hard for them to see the problems with this policy.