Does bus seat height affect behavior management?

Two years ago, a federal rule went into effect that raised the minimum height of seat backs on new school buses from 20 inches to 24 inches.

The goal, then U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said, was to help prevent taller and heavier children from being thrown over the seat in a crash. But can the taller seats have an unintended impact on another aspect of bus safety?

Mike Hayward, transportation director for the Andrew (Iowa) Community School District, told me he's concerned that the high seat backs restrict school bus drivers' ability to see their passengers and maintain discipline.

Hayward said that the enhanced crash protection is a great benefit, "but as far as bullying and harassment, it's made the situation worse. The drivers can't supervise the kids anymore."

(Hayward points out that the new seat backs are actually 28 inches when measured from the top of the seat cushion to the top of the seat back. The federal regulation measures from a point in space called the seating reference point that is about 4 inches above the seat cushion — so it’s 24 inches from there to the top.)

Besides serving as transportation director, Hayward regularly drives a route, so he's acutely aware of the challenge of trying to keep an eye on the road and a few dozen passengers.

The rural Andrew district transports about 200 students with its six school buses, two of which have the taller seat backs. Hayward said that they have "excellent student behavior," but it wasn't always that way.

When Hayward became transportation director at the district in 1999, student behavior was one of the top issues he had to deal with.

"We had a couple of bus routes where the students were ... I wouldn't say in charge of the bus, but they got by with way more than I would have liked," he said. "We actually had to change a couple of drivers. Some of the older kids had to graduate out. And we had to clamp down on punishment."

Now, Hayward said, the district may only have one discipline issue a year on its buses. But he worries that the new higher seat backs will hinder the ability of school bus drivers — at his district and elsewhere — to keep tabs on their passengers.

Do you share Hayward's concern? Or do you prefer the taller seat backs for their enhanced crash protection? Post your thoughts below.

—Thomas McMahon, executive editor