Belleville schools to use bus monitors to prevent bullying

By: Sharon Stevens

KSDK -- There will be some new faces riding the school buses in a Belleville school district next month.

Bus monitors are part of a new anti-bullying program approved

The monitors were approved shortly after a student was attacked on a bus in September.

Belleville School District 201 officials said 'The Wheels' program, as it is known, is aimed at preventing bullying and building character.

The video from the September 14th attack on a Belleville West High school student has been aired and discussed numerous times.

The injured student has returned to school; the alleged attackers have been expelled and face felony charges.

There were cameras on that bus and they will remain but now adult monitors will ride the buses on an as-needed basis.

A federal grant will pay for the program which will run from January until August, 2010.

School district officials say they don't ever want another incident like the one in September and they also want to promote character education.

The grant is worth $49-thousand dollars.

The program will be reviewed when the federal money runs out but to be continued, the district would need to find a new funding source.