Committee approves expanding trespass crime to school buses

Helping ensure student and driver safety is the goal of a bill heading to the House Floor.

Rep. Erik Simonson

Sponsored by Rep. Erik Simonson (DFL-Duluth), HF1940 would have a school bus specifically mentioned in the state’s trespass law as school property, thereby keeping unauthorized people off a bus without permission of the bus driver.

Approved Thursday by the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy Committee, the bill states that “a person who boards the school bus when the bus is on its route or otherwise in operation, or while it has children on it, and who refuses to leave the bus on demand of the bus operator, is guilty of a misdemeanor.” The bill would not apply to a child, school employee or volunteer authorized to be on the bus.

A companion, SF1413, sponsored by Sen. Susan Kent (DFL-Woodbury), awaits action by the full Senate.

“We think this is a reasonable measure that would help ensure student and bus driver safety going forward,” Simonson said.

Jon Vanderwall, transportation director for Roseville Area Schools, said the district has had occasions where someone boarded a bus for a wrong reason.

In one instance, a parent was unhappy with the driver for various reasons. “Our procedures in the district are that the parent bring that to the school district and we rectify it. In this case, the parent got on the bus with the driver and we had to take further action to get him off the bus. ... We certainly need to have a further remedy beyond just saying it’s in our board policy that they can’t get on the bus.”