Former bus driver doesn’t regret breaking up fight

Leon Harris was seriously injured in 2003 after a student hit him with a fire extinguisher when he intervened in a fight between students on his bus. The story comes on the heels of a recent incident in Pinellas County, Fla., in which one school bus passenger was severely beaten by three others. The bus driver complied with district policy, commanding the students to stop fighting and radioing dispatch for help, but not physically intervening.

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August 13, 2013

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First Coast News reports that Leon Harris, a former school bus driver who was seriously injured after breaking up a fight in 2003, told the news outlet he has no regrets about his decision to intervene.

A student hit Harris with a fire extinguisher during the fight. The resulting injury left him with plates in his forehead and beneath his eye, and forced him to end his career as a school bus driver — although now he trains bus drivers.

The story comes on the heels of an incident on July 9 in Pinellas County, as SBFpreviously reported, in which a 13-year-old school bus passenger was severely beaten by three 15-year-olds. The bus driver complied with district policy, commanding the students to stop fighting and radioing dispatch for help, but not physically intervening. (The district reportedly advises drivers to only intervene if they determine that it would be safe to do so.)

Meanwhile, Duval County is instructing its school bus drivers not to physically involve themselves if students get in a fight, according to First Coast News.

To read the full story, click here.

Topics:driver training student violence Management Safety

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