10 School Transportation News Magazine September 2011 School Transportation News Magazine is published by: A Different Kind of ‘No Child Left Behind’ NHTSA returned its attention over the summer
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Editorial Advisory Board:
Denny Coughlin, Consultant; Judith Dupille, Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles; Dick Fischer, Trans-Consult; Ron Love, Delaware DOE; Randy McLerran, National Bus Sales; Pete Meslin, Newport-Mesa Unified; Nancy Netherland, Migrant- Seasonal Head Start; Robert Pudlewski, Consultant; Alexandra Robinson, NAPT; Launi Schmutz, Washington County Schools
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to targeting the high numbers of children who are left alone in hot cars, a public problem often thought to occur the most in the family car parked in a shopping mall parking lot. Unfortunately, this also occurs all too often in school buses. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood con-
vened a first-ever roundtable on July 26 consisting of automakers, safety advocates and consumer groups to discuss the issue, amid record-high temperatures nationwide and 21 reported cases of hyperthermia-related child deaths this summer. San Francisco State Uni- versity’s Department of Geosciences performed a study in 2010 that showed 49 children under the age of 14 died from complications of hyper- thermia, or elevated body temperature that can lead to heat stroke from prolonged exposure to excessive heat or heat and humidity. NHTSA said several states have witnessed especially high incidences of fatalities for children aged 3 and under – including Texas, Florida, California, Ne- vada and North Carolina. Additional research performed by NHTSA in 2007 found that 27 of the 39 children 14 years of age and younger who died in 2003 and 2004 in non-crash incidents, or 70 percent, occurred as a result of hyperthermia. Te National School Transportation Speci-
fications & Procedures book published by the National Congress on School Transportation recommends that school bus drivers perform post-trip inspections at the conclusion of all routes to check the aisles and seating areas for children who may be sleeping or who otherwise failed to depart the bus at their respective stops. A NHTSA spokesperson said there was no fed- eral research to her knowledge that tracks the frequency of smaller, younger children being for- gotten on school buses by drivers or aides. “We know hyperthermia is a serious threat
that needs to be better addressed immediately,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “A
coordinated, targeted approach to increase pub- lic awareness of this very serious safety danger should help prevent unnecessary tragedies and near-misses moving forward. We need to come together and give the best information to par- ents, caregivers and our communities to protect children in vehicles.” In other news, NHTSA announced its 19th
public meeting of the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) would be held on Sept. 7 in Washington, D.C. Te research utilizes data from six medical centers with Level I trauma centers nationwide. Computer and engineering evidence are combined to determine the cause of each injury in every crash. Teams include trauma surgeons, emergency physicians, crash investiga- tors, project coordinators, mechanical engineers (typically trained in impact biomechanics), epi- demiologists, nurses, and other researchers. Te six centers will give presentations on
current research based on CIREN data. Top- ics include side-air-bag analysis utilizing CIREN weighted data; the role of frailty in crash-related injuries; fatalities and serious injuries in multiple event rollover crashes; validation of pre-hospital trauma triage: mechanism of injury; small over- lap frontal crashes and injury causation; and brain injury analysis. Findings will be published at
www.nhtsa.gov/CIREN.
Study Shows Growing Trend of School Bus Privatization in Michigan Currently one in eight school districts are outsourcing transportation services, according to recent
research by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Overall, more than 53 percent of Michigan’s 550 school districts outsource at least one of three main non-instructional services, including food and custodial services. Tis represents a 9-percent increase over the 2009–2010 school year. Food services are the most commonly privatized service (33 percent), followed by custodial ser-
vices (31.5 percent), while transportation is the least common (12.2 percent). But, James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at Mackinac, noted that transportation is the
The views and opinions in SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION NEWS are those of the editorial staff. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the members of the Editorial Advisory Board or their organizations. Individuals serving on the board are advisors only and are not responsible for the editorial content.
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fastest-growing service being privatized, as only 21 districts in the state used private bus companies in the 2009–2010 school year. Fifteen school districts outsourced transportation for the first time this year. According to the survey, one major reason for growth in privatized services is the necessity for
school districts to reduce labor expenditures. House Bill 4306 was introduced in March to mandate competitive bidding for non-instructional
services. Previously, Gov. Rick Snyder introduced “best practices” funding, which offers an additional $100 per pupil to any district that meets four out of five criteria — one being the solicitation of com- petitive, private-sector bids for support services. “Privatization remains an important option for school districts looking to reduce bureaucracy and
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save taxpayer dollars. School employee unions frequently oppose competitive bidding because it denies them members and dues,” the report concluded, “but school boards and administrators have a fiscal responsibility to seek the best and most efficient service providers for our schools.”
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