Patch Asks: Party Buses for High School Students?

With prom and graduation on the way this month, and parents are concerned about how students plan to travel to these events.

Specifically, the concern is with “party buses.”

Tonka CARES, the community coalition working to reduce illegal substance use among youth in the Minnetonka School District, formed a work group to look at the benefits and risks associated with the use of party buses for school dances. 

Prom for Minnetonka High School is Friday, May 18, and students have said that they think the vast majority of students use party buses for prom and homecoming.

What seems like a safe and fun alternative to driving can have some downsides that parents may not consider, according to Tonka CARES.

“A lot of times students plan it and parents are sort of surprised in the moment, when prom is like two days away,” said Imogen Davis, Tonka CARES Director.

Some of the risks yielded from the discussion include a non-drinking kid winding up on a drinking or drug-using bus or a group of students ending up with a bus that does not enforce the rules.

“We discovered in our research that there are plenty of companies out there that aren’t licensed or properly insured,” Davis said. “It’s fairly easy to start a company that doesn’t have appropriate licensure or insurance.”

The coalition’s biggest advice for parents is to look at the bus contract. It may be online. Some companies require students and parents to sign off on a code of conduct and do not allow backpacks, coolers or beverages on board.

A legitimate bus contract generally has a clause stating that any illegal activity is grounds for immediate termination of the ride. Exactly how this gets handled becomes discretionary on the part of the driver. Students may be dropped off at a random location and left to find their own way home if there is alcohol or drug use on board.

“We weren’t out to prevent the use of party buses at all but to look at how parents can make sure that it’s as safe as possible if they are to choose that option,” Davis said.