The New York State Department of Education defines a “bus monitor” (also commonly referred to as a “bus aide”) as any person employed for the purpose of assisting children to safely embark and disembark from a school bus which is owned, leased or contracted for by a public school district or board of cooperative educational services, and for the purpose of assisting the school bus driver with maintaining proper student behavior on such school bus

Hartmann, Brian

English

The New York State Department of Education defines a “bus monitor” (also commonly referred to as a “bus aide”) as any person employed for the purpose of assisting children to safely embark and disembark from a school bus which is owned, leased or contracted for by a public school district or board of cooperative educational services, and for the purpose of assisting the school bus driver with maintaining proper student behavior on such school bus.Education__School_Bus_Monitors.pdf: 8 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

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School Bus Monitors in Western New York

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4-19-2010 
School Bus Monitors in Western New York 
Brian Hartmann 
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School Bus Monitors in Western New York 
Abstract 
The New York State Department of Education defines a “bus monitor” (also commonly referred to as a 
“bus aide”) as any person employed for the purpose of assisting children to safely embark and disembark 
from a school bus which is owned, leased or contracted for by a public school district or board of 
cooperative educational services, and for the purpose of assisting the school bus driver with maintaining 
proper student behavior on such school bus. 
Keywords 
Buffalo, Poverty/Low Wage Work/Income Inequality, Low Wage Work, Education, K-12 Education, Fact 
Sheet, PPG, PDF 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/buffalocommons/181 
     
 
 
 
 
FACT SHEET                                                                          April 19, 2010 
School Bus Monitors in Western New York 
Brian Hartmann 
 
 
 
Who is a school bus monitor or bus aide? 
The New York State Department of Education defines a “bus monitor” 
(also commonly referred to as a “bus aide”) as  
…any person employed for the purpose of assisting children to 
safely embark and disembark from a school bus which is owned, 
leased or contracted for by a public school district or board of 
cooperative educational services, and for the purpose of assisting 
the school bus driver with maintaining proper student behavior on 
such school bus.
1
 
 
What duties does a school bus monitor perform? 
School bus monitors help children on and off the school bus safely and 
maintain order on the bus.  Additionally, school bus monitors must have 
knowledge of the safety equipment on the vehicle (including, among other 
things, various passenger restraints, escape hatches, first aid kits, and 
emergency flares), and must prepare for and assist in emergencies.
2
   
 
What are the requirements one must meet in order to become 
a school bus monitor? 
In order to become a school bus monitor, one must be at least nineteen 
(19) years of age
3
 and pass a physical performance test to ensure that she 
2 
 
is capable of escorting students on and off the bus, and is able to assist 
students in the event of an emergency.
4
  Monitors must also attend training 
sessions and refresher courses detailing strategies for maintaining order on 
the bus.
5
  If monitors aid disabled students in the course of their duties, 
they must also be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
6
   
 
What are some of the advantages of being a bus monitor?  
There are a number of good things about being a school bus monitor.  
Kimberly is a bus monitor who works for the Buffalo City School District 
and enjoys the opportunity to work with and help children.  She also 
appreciates the free shuttle service the District provides, which takes her 
from a corner in her neighborhood to the terminal from which she works.  
Additionally, she finds the training provided by the District to be useful in 
performing her job more effectively and appreciates the extra hours of 
work these training sessions provide.
7
 
 
While the limited hours and seasonal employment make paying bills 
difficult, the time off provides employees with an opportunity to develop 
other skills if they hope to find work in another field.  Kimberly, for 
instance, would ultimately like to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree and 
counsel people dealing with alcohol abuse.  The summer vacation will 
allow her to take necessary courses at Erie Community College. 
 
 
 
What are the challenges of being a school bus monitor? 
The biggest challenges associated with working as a school bus monitor 
are financial.  Kimberly is paid $9.34 per hour.  The District does not 
provide her with health insurance or other benefits commonly offered by 
employers.  As a result of these low wages, Kimberly is forced to 
supplement her income with food stamps.  She also receives Medicaid and 
lives in public housing.  In addition to the low wages and insufficient 
benefits she receives, Kimberly is limited in the number of hours she may 
work, as there is no need for her services in the summer.
8
 
 
3 
 
Bus monitors also face significant challenges in the course of performing 
their duties.  They are often required to control children who are 
emotionally unstable, or who have other special needs, while also 
maintaining order among the rest of the students on the bus.  As Kimberly 
notes, it is often difficult to remain professional and upbeat in such 
circumstances.  
School bus aides often struggle to maintain amiable relations with the 
parents of students who ride their buses.  Betty Martin, the president of 
Transportation Aides of Buffalo, notes that there have been instances 
where “we’ve had parents go after drivers and aides …It’s becoming a 
bigger problem.”9  Kimberly notes similar problems with parents.  She 
says that when a student fabricates a claim against a monitor—that the 
aide was yelling at the student, hitting the student, using foul language, 
etc.—the student’s parents, and, at times, the bus monitor’s supervisor, 
will often “take the child’s side.”  Circumstances such as these make the 
job of school bus monitor challenging and extremely frustrating at times. 
 
Is there opportunity for advancement? 
There is little opportunity for advancement among school bus monitors.  
In order to move from a school bus monitor to the position of “team 
leader,” (a job that includes the supervision of bus monitors), one must 
have, at the very least, a bachelor’s degree.  For many bus monitors, the 
educational requirements attached to the team leader position prove 
difficult, if not impossible, to meet. 
 
Do school bus monitors belong to a 
union? 
The school bus aides of the Buffalo City School 
District are represented by Transportation Aides 
of Buffalo.  Kimberly is a union representative, 
herself. 
 
How effective is the bus monitors’ union 
in advocating for their rights? 
In 2009, Transportation Aides of Buffalo secured a 10% raise for bus 
monitors employed by the Buffalo City School District.
10
  The union is 
also working to improve working conditions for bus monitors by 
attempting to mitigate the threat of irate and unruly parents.
11
  Kimberly is 
happy with the job that Ms. Betty Martin, president of Transportation 
Aides of Buffalo, has done.  She feels that Ms. Martin is a zealous 
advocate for the District’s bus monitors, and looks forward to working 
with her to eventually secure a living wage for all monitors.  
 
How does Kimberly regard her employer? 
Kimberly’s attitude toward her employer (the Buffalo City School 
District) is positive.  She likes the additional training opportunities the 
4 
 
District provides (though these are required by law
12
), as well as the free 
shuttle service that transports her from the neighborhood where she lives 
to the bus terminal out of which she works.  While she expresses 
occasional frustration over the willingness of her supervisors to believe 
schoolchildren and their parents about what happens on the bus, she thinks 
that the team leaders who oversee her work are fair, responsible, and 
professional. 
 
How does Kimberly regard her job and working conditions? 
In spite of its many challenges, Kimberly likes her job and is satisfied with 
the conditions under which she works.  She expresses occasional 
frustration with the driver of the bus she monitors (who is employed by 
the bus company, not the Buffalo City School District), but she is also 
quick to state that they have a solid relationship with one another and 
work well together. 
 
Kimberly also enjoys working with children.  This is one of the things that 
she and other bus monitors like best about their job and the environment in 
which they work. 
 
It must be noted that when asked about her job 
satisfaction and the quality of her work 
environment, Kimberly framed the question in 
comparative, rather than absolute, terms.  
Specifically, she stated that it was much better than 
some other jobs she had held.  She also noted that 
she hopes to engage in work that pays better and provides her with a more 
comfortable lifestyle. 
 
What are some of the challenges of living with a low wage? 
There are numerous challenges involved with working a low wage job.  
Kimberly is forced to supplement her income with food stamps.  She 
receives Medicaid, and she lives in public housing.  In addition to these 
difficulties, she cannot afford a vehicle of her own and takes public 
transportation to travel to the grocery store or to church.  In spite of the 
fact that four major bus routes include stops by her house, Kimberly 
cannot afford to use the bus too often on her limited income.  
 
While public transportation proves a minor challenge, the grind of living 
paycheck to paycheck can result in an overwhelming sense of futility.  
When asked what a higher wage would allow her to do, Kimberly said that 
she would finally be able to get her hair and nails done on a regular or 
semi-regular basis.
13
  In talking to her, it was clear that even a seemingly 
minor thing, like the inability to afford such small amenities, can be quite 
depressing. 
 
5 
 
 
 
 
 
  
                                                   
1 8 N.Y.C.R.R. 156.3(a)(3)  
2 Buffalo City School District, “Bus Aide Handbook,” Buffalo City School 
District, http://www.buffaloschools.org/files/6865/Bus%20Aide%20Handbook.pdf. 
3 8 N.Y.C.R.R. 156.3(c)(2) 
4 8 N.Y.C.R.R. 156.3(c)(3)(iii)(a) 
5 8 N.Y.C.R.R. 156.3(c)(5)  
6 8 N.Y.C.R.R. 156.3(c)(4) 
7 Kimberly, Interview by author, Buffalo, NY, March 18, 2010. 
8 Ibid.  
9 American Federation of Teachers, “Transportation Aides Get Overdue Raises,” 
American Federation of Teachers, http://archive.aft.org/psrp/news/index.htm. 
10 Ibid. 
11 Ibid.  
12 8 N.Y.C.R.R. 156.3(c)(5)  
13 Interview with Kimberly. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Partnership for the Public Good 
237 Main St., Suite 1200, Buffalo NY 14203 
www.ppgbuffalo.org 
 
 


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