There's a push to make sure bus aides are monitoring every bus in the Buffalo Public School District, after several claims made by parents that their children were sexually assaulted on the school bus.
Buffalo Public School officials say as of right now, investigations are underway internally and in cooperation with the Buffalo Police Department regarding those allegations.
Thursday's meeting focused on the need for aides, and why there are so many vacancies on district buses. District officials say about 70 percent of all Buffalo Public School buses are staffed with an aide on board. There are about 400 aides who work for the district.
They say the problem is with staffing. Officials say there's very high turnover, and they're constantly looking to fill vacancies.
"It really boils down to students not being supervised," said Council Member Ulysees Wingo. "Children will get away with whatever they can if they're not supervised on the bus."
The district says its looking at a variety of recruitment efforts and staff development to help drivers and aides.
Bus aides in Buffalo need to be available for a split shift: 2.5 hours in the morning, and 2.5 hours in the afternoon.
The district hopes to fill about 200 aide vacancies, to bring it up to full capacity.
