40 School Transportation News Magazine September 2011


kept in operation up to 18 years and beyond. As added protection, SISD Transportation Director Brian Weisinger bought the extended, five-year, bumper-to-bumper warranty, which covered everything on the bus — including the seats. Now, just more than five years later, Weisinger said every seat cover on every bus needs to be replaced, which could cost more than $100,000. “Tat’s substantial money when we’re cutting


The Seat of the Problem I


There’s more to a school bus seat than meets the (student’s) rear By Art Gissendaner


n October 2004 the Spring Independent School District in Texas bought 86 new 2005 school buses. Te buses came with a standard two-year warranty, even though school buses in Texas are known to be


services and staff,” Weisinger said. “Te cushion covers and the back covers are all delaminating at the same time. Tey’re all failing at the same time because they were all made the same time by the same manufacturer. Having to replace all these covers this summer was an additional (fi- nancial) burden.” Weisinger said the replacements are neces-


sary because of normal wear and tear and that vandalism was not a major factor. He stopped short of saying the seat covers delaminating so close to the warranty’s expiration date is a case of planned obsolescence. “Some of these seats are not lasting much past the warranty,” Weis- inger said. “Tat’s exactly what’s happening on these 86 buses.” Te vinyl on the standard vinyl-over-foam bus


seat is backed with cloth, Weisinger explained, and delamination occurs when the vinyl begins cracking and breaking away to expose the cloth. “Te seams are all good, but the wear surfaces


are self-destructing. Over time the vinyl prod- uct shrinks, cracks and flakes off of the cloth,” he added. “Ten, the kids pick at it, and it con- tinues to flake off. Tis has nothing to do with foam separation or anything like that, although sometimes the foam needs to be replaced also.” All the buses in question have tinted windows


and air conditioning, so heat and ultraviolet rays were not factors.


STUDENT BEHAVIOR AND REPLACEMENT CYCLES While seat belts have historically dominated


the debate concerning school bus seats, many transportation directors and manufacturers see bus seats as more than places to rest children’s behinds. Tey are expensive pieces of technol- ogy that can save school districts money with their durability and keep children safe with their design. However, the dilemma of seats barely outlasting their warranties is not the only one facing school officials. Besides the normal wear


Traditional school bus seats have proven costly for student transporters when replacing vinyl and even foam that is vandalized by student riders. New technology recently introduced aims to change all of that.


and tear, some bus seats must bear the brunt of student misuse and intentional destruction with sharp objects. Charlie Ott, transportation director in the Clo-


vis Unified School District in Fresno, Calif., said both onboard cameras and a strong discipline policy discourage most overt acts of vandalism, but added that nothing lasts forever. “I have buses that are 30 years old that have


the same seat frame. Everything besides the metal is new maybe two times over,” Ott said. “Foam only lasts so long. It has a tendency to break down from climate and abuse from kids.” Ott agrees with many of his peers that even with the best treatment, seats need to be replaced about every 10 years or even sooner. “Any time there is any damage we repair it


right away,” Ott said. “We require our bus driv- ers to ‘post-trip’ their buses every day. If there is graffiti that they can remove, they do it. We have people who repair seats daily as needed. Kids who have been with us a while do not vandalize our seats. Our camera system records the ones that do and the parents are charged according to district policy.” Ott said his district spends from $10,000 to $12,000 a year on repair material for his 139 bus- es, but adds that the real cost is in the labor. “We spend about 250 to 300 man hours re-


pairing seats, and that could add up to about $50,000 to $60,000 in labor. I worked in another district that had only 50 buses and we spent $15,000 on bus seat repair material,” he added.


“Te difference is the expectation of student dis- cipline from the top down. In the other district, I had two full-time employees working repair.” Weisinger said that last year’s repairs cost him $17,665 in parts and 678 man hours for a total of $26,989. Te man hours equated to 85 days, or half the school year, that one employee had to spend repairing seats.


GYMNASTICS, INSPECTIONS AND THE ‘CHARMIN’ TEST Triad Fabco Industries produces the foam seat


cushions and seatbacks. Product Manager David Murphy said seats are not built to last 20 years, but they should last up to 10 years with normal use. He said the back cushion takes the most punishment. “Te backing takes more abuse through nor-


mal wear,” he said. “Te seats are close together in a school bus, so kids pull on the seat in front of them to pull themselves up. Te foam is con- stantly stressed, and the more it is flexed and stressed, the more fatigued it becomes and it breaks down quicker. Now with the new regula- tions where backs are higher and straight up and down, the aisle is narrower and the kids swing themselves on the (aisle) seatbacks so their feet don’t touch the floor.” [Editor’s note — Te regu- lations are tied to the NHTSA revised final rule on school bus occupant protection that go into effect next month. Te seatback heights increased to 24 inches from the previous 20 inches.] With that kind of treatment, Murphy said five


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