PUBLISHER’S CORNER Meeting the Minimum Standards Written by Tony Corpin | tony@stnonline.com I


received an email from an industry colleague chal- lenging me to tackle the topic of world-class safety. That seemed like a daunting task, but I am always up for a challenge.


Why are minimum standards the baseline for many school transportation operations? Why is it the mini- mum that we strive to meet as an industry? If someone came to me and said we meet the minimum safety stan- dards, I wouldn’t be confident that my child was safe. Let’s face it—The minimum means you cannot do


any less. It is the bare minimum that is required. Almost every parent takes for granted that everything possible is being done to transport their children safely. They have no idea of the many factors that lead to the wide vari- ation of safety practices and equipment that result in a wider variation of safety levels being delivered. School transportation operations view whatever their


states require as the level they need to meet, no more and no less. This is a generalization, as I know many school transportation operators go above and beyond with safety training and safety equipment investment. Still, many others do not. States have their own requirements, and they are


all over the map. California has the highest minimum standard for crossing elementary school students to and from bus stops, for example. Meanwhile, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Entry Level Driver Training requirement is an effort to raise the minimum standard in every state. Having said that, ELDT simply lists subjects that are to be taught. It does not detail how or to what extent the subjects are to be taught. You can still comply with ELDT but provide minimum training. What does world-class safety look like? What industry standards are we trying to meet that go beyond the state requirements? We have the National Congress on School Transportation, which will be held every four years start- ing in 2029. But a lot can change in four years. Plus, it also outlines minimum standards, and most states don’t adopt it in its entirety. As Senior Editor Taylor Ekbatani reports in this month’s


issue, uniformity is key when addressing safety. She writes that laws on when oncoming vehicles stop for a school bus can differ based on divided and undivided roads. When you compare your first day of the school year to


today, is there an improvement in performance, opti- mization and a reduction in stress? Have any crashes or other safety incidents occurred? School buses have been rolling for many months. As we inch closer to summer,


50 School Transportation News • MAY 2026


the topic of safety must remain top of mind. At the end of March, a major crash in Tennessee that


resulted in two student fatalities and a half-dozen inju- ries drew much attention to school bus safety. A lawsuit claims the driver didn’t receive the proper training and the school bus lacked safety technology like seatbelts. The state and federal investigation was ongoing at press time. Statistically, the school bus is by far the safest way for


students to travel to and from school. Still, over the past six school years, at least 62 students were killed in or around school buses or stops, according to STN research. Six, including the recent Tennessee victims, were passen- gers in crashes. One choked to death in her wheelchair. Another fell off the wheelchair lift. The rest were hit by the bus in the danger zone, crossing the street as pedestri- ans, by a passing vehicle, or were shot or beaten to death. There is no or limited accounting for injuries and other student pedestrians killed or injured around school buses. So, how do we improve safety on and around the school bus? I recommend starting with the parents as they have a vested interest in their child’s safety. The burden of school bus safety can’t fall solely on school transportation and the school bus driver. Jeff Cassell of the School Bus Safety Company shared


recommendations to help mitigate potential tragedy around the school bus. He suggested reducing student crossing as much as possible, teaching the students safe crossing procedures, informing parents of those proce- dures, ensuring school bus drivers enforce the correct crossing procedures, and installing extended stop arms to make sure passing vehicles stop. “Safety means you continually do all you can to re-


move or reduce risk. The required behaviors that remove or reduce risk are a function on the location leadership,” he added. “World-class safety is where an organization follows the safest best practices in every area of their op- erations. They use the leading practices, processes and training systems to integrate these best practices into every facet of the organization, always, with a structured plan to do so.” Striving for world-class safety should always be the


goal. Keep reinforcing safe behaviors around the school bus with your school bus drivers, kids and parents. As an industry, being 100-percent safe all the time isn’t easy. But removing risk from operations that saves a child’s life is well worth the effort. ●


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