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Close to 3,500 students attend school in the Chisago Lakes School District. Of these students over 75 percent ride the school buses each day. The responsibility of this task falls to Hunt's Transportation and its many bus drivers.

Many of these drivers live in our school district and have had or currently have children attending our schools. The drivers know the importance of their job and how their role impacts our students.

Two years ago our district made a commitment to start the Peaceful Bus program in our elementary schools. This program develops a partnership not just between the school and the bus drivers, but also includes the teacher and the students in this group. The idea is to work together to develop ways to make the ride safe and uneventful for all. Staff members are assigned to a bus and three times a year a Peaceful Bus meeting is held. On those mornings when the bus arrives the teachers greet the buses and take those students, along with the bus drivers, to one of the classrooms for the meetings. At the meeting concerns are shared, ideas are discussed, and team building activities are utilized. The teachers, bus drivers, and students really get to know each other and this helps to develop a positive relationship for everyone. This proactive approach may help to head off some issues before a problem develops.

Every elementary school has some leeway to make the Peaceful Bus program fit their building's specific needs. Each meeting could look different depending on the age of the students and the different concerns that are discussed.

I have witnessed firsthand some positive changes since we started this. I see bus drivers working with our school staff to problem solve. I have seen teachers, on their own time, ride the bus to get a firsthand look at what happens on the ride. I have seen a decrease in bus write-ups, and very few repeat offenders. All of these have helped to foster a better atmosphere on the buses.

As with most new ideas or programs a key is communication. Whether it's bus driver to student, staff to bus driver, or parent to bus driver, these lines need to be kept open.

As I stated at the beginning 75 percent of our students in our district ride the bus each day. With a cooperative effort on behalf of everyone the bus ride can be a positive experience for all.

At one of our Peaceful Bus meetings last year a bus driver shared with her riders that she liked dogs and had one of her own. She also talked about when her children rode the school bus. Later that day I asked some students what they learned at the bus meeting. Some talked about bus rules, one talked about what a teacher said, but one little girl said her bus driver was nice because she had a dog. To most people this may not be too important, but to that little girl her bus driver has now become a real person.

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