POLK COUNTY, Fla., May 16 (UPI) -- After video surfaced of two students viciously attacking a third on a school bus, a Florida school district has ordered that armed deputies ride with students who are considered "at-risk."
"We are going to have order on that bus one way or another," said Polk School Board Chair Dick Mullenax. "We provide transportation to those schools, but if they can't behave, we will see where we go from there."
Police are stressing this is not a scared straight-style disciplinary program, but rather a step taken toward intervention and preserving safety.
"They're not going to be these hard-core monitors, they're just going to be there, have a chance to interact with those kids, maybe get some information with things that are going on," a sheriff's department spokesperson said. "It's not going to be an adversarial relationship."
