(WSBT) It's a growing problem in many school districts around our area — people who drive around school buses that are stopped to pick up students.

The Goshen School System and police officers say they're tired of it.

The department will soon put officers on school buses with another close by in a squad car. They'll team up to pull over drivers in the act.

Bus drivers in the Goshen School System see it almost every day — cars that drive around their stopped bus, with its lights on and stop arm out, while they pick up students.

"In the past 18 years, I've had them pass me on the right, oncoming, and go around on the left,” explained bus driver Nita Jones. “Because to me everybody is always in a hurry, they don't want to be behind that big yellow bus.”

“I think it’s always been a problem,” said Zoe Stanger, a driver for 20 years. “Especially in the mornings. People are so concerned about getting to work on time and so they are either on their cell phones or else their minds are elsewhere, because they just don't stop when we're stopped."

The school system says it is not a random kind of occurrence. It happens anywhere from three to five times a day with the 50 buses that are on the routes around the district.

“People who drive need to understand that running a stop arm on a bus is just like running a red light at a street,” said Goshen Schools Transportation Director Barry Younghans. “It’s extremely dangerous and puts people at risk and we want to raise awareness to keep that from happening."

The Goshen Police Department will soon have a two-man team out to help prevent it.

"We'll be putting an officer on the bus and also have a squad car that will pursue the violators and actually make the traffic stop,” said Goshen Police Officer Joe Brown.

“I think it’s great — anything they can do to keep our kids safe,” said Deana Roth, whose son rides the bus. “Any parent wants their kid to be safe when they put them on the bus. So I think it’s a really good idea."

Goshen officers taking part in the program will work overtime and be paid through a grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.

Several other school systems in Elkhart County will be also be conducting the same program.