HEADLINES
Looking Good Matters…
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Responsibility for Bus Stop Safety Rests on Multiple Shoulders
Districts have for years deliberated on the dilemmas associated with unsupervised
students at the bus stop. So what are some of the best ways to keep kids safe from on- coming traffic, their peers and unwanted predators? “We make sure that the stops are free of hazards,” said Blanca Souders, director of
transportation for St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 near Chicago. She explained that students are kept away from the homes of known sex offenders and sheltered from bad weather. According to attorney Peggy Burns, owner of Education Compliance Group, the law is
fairly consistent among the states when it comes to a district’s legal responsibility. Specifi- cally, districts have no responsibility for students until they board the school bus. “Te clear advantage of this requirement is that, extending a district’s duty beyond that
point, would simply be untenable — financially devastating and pretty impossible for the district to fulfill,” explained Burns, who will present on the topic at this summer’s STN EXPO. “Tere really aren’t drawbacks as such, but it’s not a bad idea for school districts to use lan- guage in handbooks and other communications with parents that limit their expectations.” For example verbiage should emphasize that the district cannot and is not required
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to be responsible for students before they board the bus. And to help ensure student safety, transportation departments should make reasonable choices about bus stop designation, recognizing issues like size and location of vegetation, paved shoulders, composition of road surface, and the presence or absence of traffic signs or markers designating the area as a school bus stop. But the list does not end there. Schools must consider safe waiting areas and conditions
that change with the calendar, such as the impact of daylight savings time. Other hazards include waste disposal trucks, Christmas lighting, snow piled along the road, the number of students eligible to board and their age and maturity levels, post-discharge conditions like visibility and traffic, and customers of area businesses. Burns added that districts need to take all reasonable steps to minimize risk. Tis extends
to conditions the district is aware of that are “substantially likely” to be harmful for a child at the bus stop and, sometimes, on the walk route to and from bus stops. Student training is one of the ways districts can reduce these risks. Patricia Reid, trans-
portation director for Bret Harte Union High School District in Northern California, said she understands the importance of bus stop safety because it is where a large number of students encounter the most automobile traffic on a daily basis. “We work with our students to remind them of our rules: no pushing, waiting until
the bus stops when picking up and waiting for the front door to open before standing [during] drop-offs,” said Reid. Many parents are also in too big of a hurry when dropping off their children, and illegal
passers account for far too many fatalities. According to the 2009-2010 National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey, five children were killed by vehicles passing the school bus. “People need to slow down and give themselves an extra minute or two when they get on the road,” added Reid. ■
28 School Transportation News Magazine May 2011
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