As we start the new year, my thoughts go out to the families of Brayden Callahn and Simon Gonzalez, the two children who died in bus accidents before the holidays. The best way to honor their memories is to examine our own safety practices and extend a plea for the community's help in keeping all our children safe.
School buses carry the community's most precious commodity- your children. Bus drivers treat your children as if they are their own while riding on buses. After meeting with the district's bus drivers, here's some reminders and concrete ways that the drivers generated that can help keep our students safe as they travel to and from school aboard our bus fleet:
- Since school began in September, there have been over 100 instances of vehicles passing buses with their red flashing signal lights activated. Please, please never drive past a bus when their flashing lights are displayed. This is the most preventable kind of accident there is.
- There are multiple blind spots around a bus that impair a driver's vision. Never allow your child to run alongside a bus or walk behind a bus, as drivers cannot see your child.
- If your child misses the bus, make other arrangements for them to get to school and do not follow a bus or have your child "chase" the bus.
- Bus drivers know their routes better than anyone else and know the potential dangers and road conditions that can be avoided. Please relay to your child the importance of following the instructions of their bus driver at all times.
- Students should always stand several feet back from the road while at the bus stop and should wait for the bus to make a complete stop before walking toward the bus.
- During winter months, students should not wait for the bus on snow banks. A student could easily slide down a bank into the path of an oncoming bus or other vehicle. Buses, like other vehicles, are susceptible to road conditions, but due to their size and weight they require significantly more time and distance to come to a complete stop.
- Parents/guardians, please make sure your child understands the critical importance of learning and following their driver's signals for crossing the street in front of the bus.
- Bus drivers operate large, heavy vehicles with many, many students on board, often without assistance. They are multi-tasking constantly and their first and primary focus must be on driving and safety. Please talk with your child about the importance of appropriate behavior on the bus to reduce distractions so that their driver can focus on the road. Simply put, buses are extensions of the school and are not playgrounds.
- Younger children should always be accompanied by an adult at bus stops for pick-up and drop-off.
- Whenever possible, drivers will make attempts to pick up students on the right side of the bus to avoid crossing students on busy roads. We recognize this means longer wait times for the bus in many instances, but please know it is for the sake of safety.
Many thanks to our incredible team of dedicated drivers who work tirelessly to keep your children safe. Thank you for your help with these important safety considerations. It truly takes an entire community to ensure the continued safety of all students while traveling to and from school each and every day.