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News


The Braking Point What specific requirements should school districts make in their RFPs to ensure that students get a proper “brake” when it comes to critical safety features on the school bus?


WRITTEN BY ART GISSENDANER


A


ll school bus braking systems are generally considered safe. Before buses are delivered to school districts, their braking systems must pass a detailed cadre of minimum federal and state requirements that include


stopping distance, in-curve-stability and parking brake holding. And there is generally an unwritten “leap of faith” understand- ing in each RFP that dealers and bus manufacturers will provide school districts with buses that at least meet these requirements when it comes to brake systems and other standard equipment. But should school districts make it a point to question bus manufacturers and dealers on the efficiency of standard equipment when it comes to braking systems? “We expect all the school buses we purchase to meet the


requirements of the state of Virginia,” said Josh Davis, transpor- tation director of the Henrico County Public Schools. “Our State Department of Education has a specific set of requirements. We don’t necessarily think about braking systems.” Tat may change after it was discovered this spring that about 4,000 buses were delivered to approximately 11 Virginia school districts without a brake interlock system, a safety feature that was mandated by the VDOE on buses manufactured after March 2011. Te interlock system prevents the parking brake from acci- dentally disengaging on buses with automatic transmissions. Te discovery caused powerhouse manufacturers Blue Bird, IC Bus


14School Transportation News • AUGUST 2017


and Tomas Built Bus to embark on a massive campaign over the summer to retrofit the non- compliant buses with the brake interlock at no cost to the school districts. Local news reports said the oversight also impacts school districts in 22 other states, although no further details were given. Newport News Public Schools spokes- woman Michelle Price said the district’s transportation department agrees that school districts place their confidence in dealers and OEMs to deliver buses that comply with state and federal require- ments. “It is our understanding when we took delivery of the buses that they did meet all the current state and federal standards for school buses,” Price said. Price explained that Newport News, along with several other districts in southeast Virginia, uses a private management corpo- ration as a purchasing agent to manage the requests for propos- als and oversee the purchasing process. She said the only extras requested might be wheelchair lifts or video cameras. She said that, to her knowledge, braking systems are not specified in the RFPs. “Te school divisions ask the management corporation to follow the state specifications,” she said. “I don’t know if the RFPs are that


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