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Comal Independent School District - NEWS RELEASE
Education Foundation helps with program that brings television to school buses
Students in Comal ISD are learning just how much fun a bus ride can be when accompanied by a NASA rocket launch or a panda and her newborn cubon the Discovery Channel.
T
he school district now has two Bus-Ed-Safe-TV (BEST) monitors, which are 26-inch LCD televisions placed securely at the front of the bus.The BEST monitors are easy to remove and place onto different buses so more Comal ISD students can experience the new technology.
The Comal Education Foundation paid for one of the monitors through a grant, and executive director Margaret Tenorio and members of the Foundation board Dan Krueger, Nancy Pappas and Colinda Grochett recently received a demonstration of exactly how it benefits our children and bus drivers from transportation director Gus Rodriguez and area supervisor Christina Masterson.
“We started out looking at putting the monitors on the routes with some of the behavior problems,” Masterson said. “Right away, the kids started paying attention to what was on the television and we had far fewer discipline
problems.”
The BEST monitor runs through the radio system, so the sound is heard over six speakers placed throughout the bus.
Some of the featured programs are from the History Channel, The Learning Channel, NASA Space Center, the Discovery Channel, and a quiz show channel. Programs also can include school district curriculum and lessons on bus safety.
“The content is geared toward everybody on the bus,” said Comal ISD driver Violet Syers. “They would much rather watch the television than get in trouble for not doing what they are supposed to.”
Tenorio was sold pretty quickly when she boarded one of the buses that included a BEST monitor.
“I know for a fact it’s working because my 13-year-old daughter rides a bus to Smithson Valley Middle School that had the monitor on it,” Tenorio said.
“She told me all the kids loved it.”
Krueger, a former 16-year member of the Comal ISD school board, agreed. “I think it’s an awesome program,” Krueger said. “I used to like to say this when I was on the school board, anything like this that’s win-win you can’t go wrong with. It benefits the drivers and it’s also an educational tool. Who knows how many students might be inspired by something they see on the bus monitor and then head to the library to learn more about it.”
Rodriguez said he would eventually like to have five BEST monitors for buses at each of Comal ISD’s three high school feeder patterns and Tenorio said she would like to help make that happen.
“We would love to help with the funding if we can, and this would be an excellent opportunity for PTAs and local businesses to get involved as well,”
Tenorio said. “This has the potential to reach all the students in the district that ride buses and that would be a great thing.”
-CISDIN
PHOTOS: Comal ISD transportation director Gus Rodriguez demonstrates for
Comal Education Foundation board members just how well Bus-Ed-Safe-TV
(BEST) monitors, which are 26-inch LCD televisions placed securely at the front
of the bus, are working in the district.
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