PUBLISHER’S CORNER
First Day of School and Everything in Between
WRITTEN BY TONY CORPIN |
TONY@STNONINE.COM A
s a proud parent, I dropped off my 2-year- old daughter for her first day of preschool last month. It was an experience to remem- ber, trying to get her ready and out the
door on time so we could drive her. It’s still a little too early for her to ride the school bus yet. I watched as parents flooded into the school, just bare- ly making it on time. All the action that morning got me thinking that the rush of activity and new routine for parents and children, alike, could cause accidents. We are all so so focused on rushing around with a decreased awareness of our surroundings. How did you survive the first month of school
startup? Te flurry of rushing parents, vehicles, walking/ running kids and school buses all converging on one lo- cation can be chaotic. It’s a new routine for everyone to get back into the swing of things. But one thing remains constant, and that’s the need for school buses to provide on-time transportation for kids. It seems so easy to say that summer preparations and training are essential keys to providing a seamless first day and everything in between throughout the school year. As I read over our wire report headlines this month, I found far too many news articles on bus fires, stop arm violations, crashes, driver incidents with students and shootings. I did read a couple of bus driver heroism stories, too, though there never enough of them. But one type of headline seems to appear more than the others: “Student left on bus for hours.” Do you remember Hun Joon (Paul) Lee of Whitter, California? He was the 19-year old special needs student who was left alone for hours on a parked school bus last Septem- ber and tragically died from heat exhaustion. It’s a hard lesson to learn when a student dies, but the reaction within the community and across the entire state of Cal- ifornia has been one of investigations, hearings and now enrolled legislation. Te Paul Lee School Bus Safety Act would require child checks devices on all school buses. “No parent should fear that their child will not return home safely at the end of the day. My hope is that SB 1072 will prevent future tragedies by requiring every
74 School Transportation News • OCTOBER 2016
school bus in California to be equipped with a child-safety alarm system,” said state Sen. Tony Mendoza. At press time, the bill sat on the Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk to sign into law. I reached out to industry supplier Brad Both,
president of Child Check-Mate, for an update from his company’s data regarding the surge of incidents of children being left on school buses. According to his research, nearly 342 reported incidents of children being left alone on school buses occurred between 2011 and 2016.
“School start-up is the heaviest period of reported incidents, with about five per week. Keep in mind that countless incidents go unreported too,” Both said. It’s imperative that drivers are trained to check the bus after the route is complete. It’s a best practice and a potentially lifesaving one to clear the bus after the last child exits and prior to returning to the bus facility, according to Jeff Cassell, president of Te School Bus Safety Company.
What kind of training do you offer your drivers on clearing the bus properly? Is there a consequence if the driver leaves a child on the bus? Does your school dis- trict have a zero-tolerance for this sort of behavior? As you embark on the new school year, be sure to keep
your staff aware of the scores of these incidents occur- ring around the country, and remember that no school district is immune. It’s how the team of people around you are trained, remain vigilant and respond to potential situations that truly matters. ●
Tony Corpin, Publisher
CELEBRATING25YEARS
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