Union Parish, School Bus, Safety - KNOE 8 News; KNOE-TV; KNOE.com |

UNION PARISH, La. (KNOE 8 News) - How safe is your child on a school bus? That's a question many parents in Union Parish are asking after a recent string of sexual assaults.

Last week, we were first to report, a 15 year old Farmerville High School student is charged with sexual battery on three young girls.

It's all reported to have happened on board a Union Parish School bus.

Union Parish Transportation Manager, Lyn Kenley, says "even before this recent incident I've looked into the purchase of security cameras and we are excellerating that program."

The camera would be mounted in the front of the bus looking all the way to the rear to monitor the children.

Kenley says, "it's a color camera, and it has blurring capability, in case you have to use those tapes in court."

Last week parents raised the question if a bus monitor is needed to keep an extra eye on the students.

Kenley says they do have monitors on some busses, for special needs students.

He says monitors are not out of the question for all busses.

Kenley says, "if it becomes necessary on some more problematic busses we may have to do something like that, we have done that in the past but not on a permanent basis."

He says they also have student behavior reports bus drivers fill out about incidents on the busses, and those have been a big help.

Kenley says, "the kids are aware of these rules, if they break the rules they are turned into the school principal, the school principal reports that back to me and those children are removed from the school bus for a certain amount of time depending on the nature of their misbehavior."

Kenley hopes to have cameras on all district buses before the beginning of the next school year.