The director of transportation for Cambridge-Isanti Schools and the bus driver involved in a traffic incident caught on video Sept. 15 that garnered thousands of views on Facebook have voluntarily resigned.
Director of Transportation Jeff Allen and bus driver Roger Larson’s resignations were accepted during the Sept. 22 School Board meeting. Allen’s resignation is effective Oct. 1 and Larson’s resignation was effective Sept. 20.
On Sept. 15, a video was posted on Facebook of cars merging to avoid hitting a Cambridge-Isanti school bus parked along a median at 285th Avenue and Highway 65 south of Isanti, showing the bus’s tail-end in the northbound lane of traffic. In the video, you can hear students yelling at Larson to move the bus out of the way as cars heading northbound veer into the other lane of traffic to avoid hitting the bus. The video has been viewed 225,000 times on Facebook.
The school district said in a statement the following morning that Larson was forced to stop in the intersection due to a driver in front of the bus stopping unexpectedly.
Cambridge-Isanti Schools Superintendent Ray Queener provided the following statement to the Isanti County News regarding the resignations of Allen and Larson:
“Independent of and prior to the conclusion of the investigation around the bus incident from Sept. 15, Mr. Allen and Mr. Larson voluntarily resigned for personal and professional reasons. I wish Mr. Allen and Mr. Larson the very best as they move forward.
“As superintendent, I continue to be proud of the safe driving record and total safety focus of our transportation department. Last year our buses traveled over a million miles with very few incidents. As always, we will work proactively with our staff to make improvements where appropriate and necessary in any aspect regarding student safety at Cambridge-Isanti Schools,” Queener said.
Cambridge-Isanti Schools Director of Finance and Operations Kris Krocker said the district is beginning its search for a new director of transportation.
“We are sad to see him (Jeff Allen) go, but we are working diligently to fill his position,” Krocker said during her administrative report.
According to the district, Allen was hired by Cambridge-Isanti Schools on April 25, 2016, and Larson was hired Aug. 23, 2004.
Following the Sept. 15 incident, Queener sent an email to parents of students in Cambridge-Isanti Schools notifying them there were no accidents or injuries to any of the passengers on the bus.
“While the district continues to investigate the matter, drivers were informed to use controlled intersections at this time,” Queener said. “It is always our practice to review our protocols and to determine if we need to make adjustments. I personally, and we as a district, take student safety seriously and continue to work proactively with our staff to make improvements where we can in any aspect regarding student safety at Cambridge-Isanti Schools.”
Bluejacket Pride
at IIS, SFAS
During the School Board showcase, the board heard a presentation on Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports called Bluejacket Pride at Isanti Intermediate School and School for All Season.
Dave Blanchard, an internal coach for the intervention program, explained the program is a framework for helping schools select and organize evidence-based behavioral interventions into an integrated continuum that enhances academic and social behavior outcomes for all students. He said the program is site specific to each school.
“The Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports interventions, plans and decisions are all based off of recent, building-school specific data,” Blanchard said. “It places an emphasis on clearly communicated high expectations.”
Trisha Roiger explained Bluejacket Pride needs to be shown and recognized in all areas of the school, not just individual classrooms. She explained the program includes:
• Designing and training procedures for encouraging expected behavior.
• Modeling expected behavior.
• Recognition of high expectations or expected behavior.
• Providing reteaching and consequences for negative behavior with an emphasis on teachable moments.
Academic coach Sara Edwards explained program evaluations are completed multiple times each year by the team, school staff and external trained staff.
Examples were given of how students and staff can show Bluejacket Pride in when entering and exiting the building, in the hallways and in the bathrooms. There is also a focus on the district’s character traits of honesty, respect, responsibility, self-discipline and compassion.
Krisanne Wessel, an internal coach for Intervention program, explained students receive Bluejacket Pride tickets when they are caught displaying one of the character traits and following expectations of the program.
The tickets are good for weekly drawings and school prizes. Tickets are also given to students when a referral needs to be made to the resource room.