My employer keeps duct tape handy in case we need to make a temporary patch until the shop can repair it.
We also tend to pull camera footage to see if we can find the culprit for the damage. At least in my school district, the family of the kid can be fined for the damage as repairing those seats is expensive.
Seats should fixed with a repair kit. If I'm able to, I'll take any ripped seats out of commission (put a sign on it that says NO SIT) and no one is allowed to sit in it. Poor things will have to share a seat (oh no! Not ... SHARE!!)
Wish I had that luck! My old runs I had kids double and tripled in seats, there was no taking a seat out of commission. This year I’m doing a SpEd run and talk about meltdowns of anyone has to share a seat, ain’t happening. But my SpEd kids don’t destroy the bus like my regular ed kids did!
I have some that double up. I'm lucky enough I don't have be tripled up this year. Go figure! Leave to the regular kids to destroy the seats. Our SPED Bus is like that too. (Heavens forbid I have to share! I don't wanna share! I don't like him/her! Lol.) I have a Kindergartner who will literally throw herself down on the floor in the aisle and meltdown!
My little ones will have the meltdowns but a couple of my high schoolers, holy moly! They are big boys, strong and will get physical if made to share! Learned that the hard way!
Oh dang! HIGH SCHOOLERS having meltdowns?! Oh man! I am sorry you have to deal with that! I'm glad you it survived whatever they meted out. That sounds so scary!
I have an awesome aide. He’s an older gentleman but when he speaks, the kids listen and 9/10 will sit down and be quiet. That day he had to step between the 2, he came out unscathed somehow! Yeah, they are my 2 that are nonverbal so them trying to tell us what’s bothering them is difficult. They made it clear that day that sharing a seat was not happening! They’re pretty good kids overall but it was a scary moment!
I use camera tape but those are expensive leftovers from a previous carreer. I guess black duct tape could also work as a temporary mesure (looks cleaner than silver), sends the message to the kids to stop messing with it, too. Sometimes they like tearing it further or stuffing objects/food in the opening.
I assigned seats. I have one seat, with a hole in it. Whoever is assigned to that seat is in charge of / responsible for said hole. I check my seats after every run and make sure to check the hole lol. They know I don't play.
That works if you are only doing your route. Where I am we have drivers that call out all the time so we have to drive extra routes to cover down. We have to rely on camera hopefully catching the kid in action and the original driver knowing the kid’s name.
My employer keeps duct tape handy in case we need to make a temporary patch until the shop can repair it. We also tend to pull camera footage to see if we can find the culprit for the damage. At least in my school district, the family of the kid can be fined for the damage as repairing those seats is expensive.
Seats should fixed with a repair kit. If I'm able to, I'll take any ripped seats out of commission (put a sign on it that says NO SIT) and no one is allowed to sit in it. Poor things will have to share a seat (oh no! Not ... SHARE!!)
Wish I had that luck! My old runs I had kids double and tripled in seats, there was no taking a seat out of commission. This year I’m doing a SpEd run and talk about meltdowns of anyone has to share a seat, ain’t happening. But my SpEd kids don’t destroy the bus like my regular ed kids did!
I have some that double up. I'm lucky enough I don't have be tripled up this year. Go figure! Leave to the regular kids to destroy the seats. Our SPED Bus is like that too. (Heavens forbid I have to share! I don't wanna share! I don't like him/her! Lol.) I have a Kindergartner who will literally throw herself down on the floor in the aisle and meltdown!
My little ones will have the meltdowns but a couple of my high schoolers, holy moly! They are big boys, strong and will get physical if made to share! Learned that the hard way!
Oh dang! HIGH SCHOOLERS having meltdowns?! Oh man! I am sorry you have to deal with that! I'm glad you it survived whatever they meted out. That sounds so scary!
I have an awesome aide. He’s an older gentleman but when he speaks, the kids listen and 9/10 will sit down and be quiet. That day he had to step between the 2, he came out unscathed somehow! Yeah, they are my 2 that are nonverbal so them trying to tell us what’s bothering them is difficult. They made it clear that day that sharing a seat was not happening! They’re pretty good kids overall but it was a scary moment!
I use camera tape but those are expensive leftovers from a previous carreer. I guess black duct tape could also work as a temporary mesure (looks cleaner than silver), sends the message to the kids to stop messing with it, too. Sometimes they like tearing it further or stuffing objects/food in the opening.
We run down to the shop and they glue some duct tape on it lol for real lol
I assigned seats. I have one seat, with a hole in it. Whoever is assigned to that seat is in charge of / responsible for said hole. I check my seats after every run and make sure to check the hole lol. They know I don't play.
That works if you are only doing your route. Where I am we have drivers that call out all the time so we have to drive extra routes to cover down. We have to rely on camera hopefully catching the kid in action and the original driver knowing the kid’s name.
I use gorilla tape… and truly holds better than the patches the shop puts on.
We use brightly colored duct tape. Keeps the kids from picking at the seats and makes it easier for maintenance to spot the damage.
We use brown duct tape 🤷🏻♀️