Report: Ridgefield Schools Looking for Stronger Standards for Bus Drivers

After a bus driver was charged with leaving an empty 1.8-ounce bottle of alcohol in a Ridgefield school bathroom, the district has been in talks with the bus company, First Student, about their screening and testing procedures.

Ridgefield Superintendent Deborah Low told the Board of Education Monday that she discussed the company’s random testing policy and suggested they install Breathalyzers in the buses to ensure drivers are sober, the Ridgefield Press reports.

First Student declined that option, Low told the Board.

“We’re open to hearing other ideas,” Low said, according to the Press. “I don’t know how reliable the technology is with the Breathalyzers in the vehicle. Maybe they will stall the ignition of the buses and cause a problem, but it’s another layer of safety and that’s what’s being asked for.”

Read more about Low’s remarks to the Board of Education and how First Student and the bus drivers’ union have responded to the incident.

What do you think? Are Breathalyzers in buses an appropriate safety procedure or too far?