Bus monitors considered after 'nightmare' ride

Several students on the double-decker jumped off the moving vehicle after it had reached the far side of Huia. File photo / NZ Herald

School bus monitors may be appointed to a West Auckland route on which students complained of being trapped for 10 kilometres by a driver who refused to stop to let them off.

The two schools with students driven through the Waitakere Ranges on a Ritchies Transport double-decker bus two weeks ago - one of whom was injured jumping off - will also have to consider appointing representatives able to be contacted after-hours in the event of any more problems on company routes.

That follows a meeting today at which the Ministry of Education says it was agreed Green Bay High School and Glen Eden Intermediate should consider appointing senior students as bus monitors.

Representatives of both schools and the ministry met the bus company after a police investigation found no evidence that the driver, who was standing-in for the route's regular operator, had broken the law.

Senior ministry official Jerome Sheppard said the meeting was to discuss what lessons could be learned by last month's incident, in which several students among about 60 on the double-decker jumped off the moving vehicle after it had reached the far side of Huia.

A teenage boy from Green Bay High was admitted to Starship hospital with a foot injury after jumping out.

Mr Sheppard, an associate deputy secretary for education infrastructure service, said Ritchies had undertaken to share its safety and communication procedures with both schools should an incident occur again on any of the company's contracted routes.

That may require the schools to designate a representative to be contactable before and after school, he said in a statement this evening.

Ritchies director Andrew Ritchie defended the driver after the incident as having followed "normal procedure" by not stopping and saying he would take his passengers back to their schools after several were misbehaving.

It is understood the driver became angry by buzzers being pressed repeatedly after he missed a stop near Laingholm.

Mr Ritchie said on Monday he welcomed the police decision not to press charges against the driver and suggested some school bus runs might need extra help in the form of adult supervisors travelling with large numbers of children.

Although the driver was stood down from school bus duties during the police investigation, Mr Sheppard indicated no further action would be taken against him now that the inquiry was complete.

But he said the ministry had taken the incident seriously and would be keeping "a close eye" on routes in the area concerned.

"We are committed to supporting schools and transport providers to work towards providing a quality service for students," he said.

His statement did not address several questions the Herald sent the ministry this afternoon, including what advice the police had offered as a result of their investigation, and what role an adult teacher aide on the bus may have taken.

The Waitemata police said on Monday night that the incident was the result of a combination of factors, but would not detail those.

They said they had provided "feedback" advice to all involved parties.

An administrative assistant at Green Bay High said principal Morag Hutchinson would have nothing to add to the ministry's statement.