School bus parts supplier Heavy Duty Bus Parts Inc. (HDBP) has completed its first of many planned prototype personal protective equipment (PPE) samples to help medical professionals combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The supplier’s surgical masks (made of waterproof, non-woven, breathable fabric) are ready for production. Meanwhile, its N95 face masks, which block 95% of all particulate matter, are nearly ready to be sent for National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health certification, according to a news release from the supplier. HDBP is also looking to expand into surgical gowns and headwear if there is a demand for it.

“While watching the news a few weeks back, I kept hearing about PPE equipment and a possible shortage,” said Branden Smeltzer, HDBP’s general manager. “I also knew that about 85% of our customers were shutting down due to stay-at-home orders or a decision made by the superintendent of schools in their respective areas.”

Since HDBP has the necessary machinery to make the equipment, Smeltzer immediately began researching face mask standards, contacting elected officials, and evaluating startup costs. That led to purchasing equipment and raw materials, and to ultimately completing the company’s first prototype out of some school bus-specific textiles that were available in HDBP’s warehouse.

“With the uncertainty of what the future of our business is, we are still committed to doing our part to support those who are in need the most,” said Kristen Billingsley, HDBP’s president. “We are in an industry that bleeds yellow and everyone is committed to the ultimate goal of saving children’s lives. HDBP will always bleed that yellow, but right now, the country needs to bleed red and white for those medical professionals putting their lives on the line every single day, and we need to do that in a responsible manner — not in a way to cheat the system or to get rich.”

Security is a concern for all school employees, including school bus drivers. We were once again reminded of this with the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 students and school staff members were killed on Feb. 14.

In the weeks that followed, the transportation department continued to support students and staff by providing transportation to resources and services for students, parents, and the community during the recovery process. Flexible bus scheduling was available for students returning to school on a phased reopening schedule, says Kay Blake, the assistant director of the district’s student transportation and fleet services department.

Amid a sensitive national debate over how to eradicate school violence, concerns have very likely turned toward securing school buses. Here are some tips and insights from experts on how to help keep school buses and sites secure, and manage students’ concerns about their safety.

 

1. EMPOWER BUS DRIVERS

Taking a more comprehensive approach that involves all school staff members and doing more to empower school bus drivers are two steps  recommended by Dr. Stephen Sroka, president of Health Education Consultants, adjunct assistant professor at the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, and longtime school safety expert. “School safety is a concern for everyone, not just the school resource officer or the principal,” Sroka says. “Everyone has to be involved, and one of the key people is the bus driver.”

2. SECURE THE LOCATION

Buses should be parked in a secure area, says Gary Moore, safety specialist at Missouri School Boards’ Association. Pre-trip inspections should also be conducted consistently and thoroughly, Moore adds. Other TSA location security tips include locking the bus, if possible; not leaving it unattended or out of sight; and looking for out-of-place items such as a canister, propane-style tank, metal box, or bottle.

 

3. PAY ATTENTION TO “JDLRS”

Drivers should check on details they notice on or around the bus that “Just Don’t Look Right” (JDLRs) and notify authorities. Examples of JDLRs include a student on the bus being dressed completely differently for no specific occasion; a backpack or bookbag left on the bus; or a vehicle following the bus for no known reason.

4. REASSURE, INVOLVE STUDENTS

Drivers should have safety procedures for all hazards, and tell students they are as safe as they can be right now. Sroka encourages including them in the safety program by telling them that “we can work together to make this bus as safe as possible.”

5. LOOK AND LISTEN BEFORE YOU TALK

Focus on students’ concerns before responding. People often give solutions before understanding the problem as a way of addressing their needs and not the student’s, Sroka says.

 

6. MODEL GOOD BEHAVIOR BY KEEPING CALM

In a challenging or crisis situation, “be concerned, but [control] your fear,” Sroka adds. “You have to remember that you are in control, so you have to be a model for the kids.”

 

7. USE AGE- AND VALUE-APPROPRIATE MESSAGES

Sroka advises that discussion on safety issues should align with the school’s procedures and what is appropriate for the community.

 

8. MAINTAIN ROUTINE IN A CRISIS

Routines give comfort and support. Whenever possible, keeping schools open during a crisis is a good idea, because mental health staff members can support students, Sroka notes.

 

9. GREET EACH STUDENT BY NAME

Sroka also recommends practicing the two “S”s: “Say hi” and “Smile.”

 

10. MAINTAIN THE THREE “H”S: HONESTY, HUMOR, AND HOPE

“These are things that kids really want to hear,” Sroka says.

As many schools across the U.S. transition to online learning due to closures brought about by the Coronavirus (COVID-19), some districts are using Wi-Fi equipped school buses to ensure students have internet access.

In South Carolina, the State Department of Education (SCDE) is placing Wi-Fi-enabled school buses or mobile hotspots in various school districts across the state, according to Virgie Chambers, the deputy superintendent for the SCDE’s division of district operations and support. Chambers announced the initiative in a letter sent to school district superintendents and transportation directors.

Chambers noted in the letter that the school buses would also be used to deliver meals and instructional materials to students, and that priority will be given to rural and other geographic locations where the percentage of students who receive free and reduced-price meals is 50% or greater.

Despite the unprecedented and widespread impact of COVID-19, the school transportation industry continues to show its resilience and dedication to students, from providing daily meal delivery service to deploying the big yellow bus as a technology tool in some communities.

Examples include Bedford County (Va.) Public Schools who, starting Tuesday, will expand its meal delivery service to include breakfast and lunch deliveries to some of its elementary school bus stops. The district initially opened nine school sites for meal distribution on March 18, according to a news release from the district. Those curbside pickup sites reportedly served over 6,000 meals to more than 3,000 students last week, the district said in a post on its Facebook page.

In Kinston, N.C., Lenoir County Public Schools is conducting similar efforts to ensure students have meals during the COVID-19 crisis.

On Monday, Lenoir County Public Schools expanded its meal distribution at five school sites to include deliveries at 20 school bus stops in the community. The district provided more than 10,300 meals through the five school sites over four days last week, according to a post on the district’s website.

“Our goal is to reach as many students as possible, including those whose families may not be able to get to our five cafeteria sites every day,” said Danelle Smith, Lenoir County Public Schools’ child nutrition director. “The district’s transportation department and bus drivers stepped up without hesitation to make this delivery service possible.”

The mass closure of schools nationwide in response to the COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, is also grinding school bus operations to a halt.

According to Education Week, Oregon, New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland along with D.C. are closing for at least the next three weeks. In addition, 167 individual schools throughout the nation have also announced closures and extensions of spring break.

Since President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday afternoon, 11 additional states announced school closures. They are: Alabama, Wisconsin, Washington state, West Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, and Utah. But the full impact on all student transporters nationwide, especially hourly school bus drivers, remains unknown.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced on Thursday the use of federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. The release states that while spring is typically when most state administrators issue statewide assessments, the DOE said it will work with states to provide some flexibility to all levels of local government due to the impact of the coronavirus.

Under the ESEA states are required to annually administer assessments in reading/language arts, mathematics, and science to all students in tested grades and an annual assessment of English language proficiency to all English learners.

The DOE explained that some schools may be closed during the entire testing window, and it may not be feasible for states to administer some or all of its assessments. That said, the DOE would consider a targeted one-year waiver of the assessment requirements for the schools impacted by these unforeseen circumstances.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued interim guidance to help administrators of public and private childcare programs and K-12 schools plan for and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

We will keep you updated on how the virus affects schools and the school bus system.

As more schools across the nation announce closures as a precaution of or in response to confirmed cases of COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, some student transportation departments are taking extraordinary measures to disinfect their school buses.

According to Education Week, about 113 schools or districts across the country had closed at this report due to the coronavirus outbreak, and 56 of those schools had already reopened. A majority of closures are located in or near New York City, Washington state and California.

With more than 118,100 confirmed cases worldwide at this writing, and news reports indicating the virus is spreading fast, many communities can’t be blamed for getting caught up in the resulting hysteria, especially when it comes to transporting the nation’s most precious cargo. Still, coronavirus has infected a fraction of the people worldwide that have contracted the seasonal flu, which killed about 35,000 people in the U.S. alone during the 2018-2019 season.

A number of districts are taking proactive measures to disinfect buses and classrooms due to the coronavirus outbreak.  Every school bus driver and teacher are provided with Clorox wipes that can be used as needed.

Cody Cox, the director of transportation and maintenance of Community ISD, located in Texas, advised that districts need to read fact sheets on how to kill viruses. The information lists what viruses the product kills and in what amount of time. Cox said the disinfecting wipes the district uses are hydrogen peroxide-based. They are rated to kill the flu virus, the coronavirus, the common cold, and bronchitis, within four minutes of first contact.

The wipes, he said, are used throughout the day rather than waiting till after-hours to kill the germs. If a bus driver notices that a student is showing symptoms, they can try to quarantine the child and wipe down the seating area.

“Not only are we trying to get rid of the coronavirus, but we are trying to make sure our students don’t come down with the flu and other things that are also immune system depressants at the same time,” Cox explained.

The arrest of a contracted driver in Las Vegas for alleged unlawful conduct with a student in his passenger vehicle has sparked renewed discussions about how to keep students safe in alternative transportation options, which are used when the yellow school bus is not available or feasible.

HopSkipDrive, headquartered in Los Angeles, began operating a $250,000 contract in January for the Clark County Department of Child and Family Services to transport students who are in foster care to and from school. That contract was temporarily suspended last week, pending an investigation.

“As soon as we learned about these terrible allegations, we contacted the police to have the driver arrested,” said Clark County in a statement on Feb. 26.”

In a separate statement released on Feb. 26, HopSkipDrive said it upholds and enforces stringent safety standards. For example, the company’s CareDrivers are required to pass a 15-point background check, including fingerprint-based background checks against FBI and state records as well as county-level checks. It also requires drivers to possess at least five years of previous childcare experience.

The issue of drivers molesting students or otherwise engaging in inappropriate conversations or relationships with children is a concern felt across the student transportation industry.

Still, one occurrence is too many.

In part to combat this issue, school districts and contractors are installing interior video surveillance to protect both the school bus drivers and the students on board.

Most taxi cabs, which many districts still use to transport students when a school bus is not available, also feature video cameras that record the ride to protect both the driver and the passenger.  As do some Ubers that are used.

Miriam Ravkin, senior vice president of marketing for HopSkipDrive, said the company offers Safe Ride Support, which monitors trips in real-time and alerts officials to safety-related anomalies, in which they can intervene. In addition, the school district and/or parent of a rider can track the ride as it is happening.

Other transportation network companies, or TNCs, said they are also considering video surveillance, and some have already added the technology at the request of clients. However, the companies must obtain the signatures of parents that allow their children to be recorded.

Adam Bookbinder makes no secret of his love for the yellow bus. The subject often comes up on the air during the Go Country 105 FM morning show in Los Angeles.

For example, he often shares with listeners stories about his vast collection of model school buses. He drinks his coffee from a school-bus tumbler. He brags about his school bus tattoo. He has an uncanny ability to remember the most minute details about school buses he rode as a kid in New Jersey.

At the elementary school he went to, the bus driver’s name was Edie, and the bus company was Hillman’s Bus Service, based in Berlin, New Jersey. She drove a H31 and it was a Thomas Built bus. He even remembers what the flashers were like.

In junior high, he would take a bus that was a Blue Bird. Adam said it was a big deal because the school had these flat nose All-American Blue Birds. At Cherry Hill Public Schools, all of their buses were gasoline. Most places had diesel, but they had gasoline, and that is still a sound that he misses hearing.

Then, in high school, he would ride the bus, and still remembers all of the numbers of those buses and all the driver’s names.

Still to this day, he says he has no clue what brought this on, but he is still fascinated with all things buses.  Everybody that knows Adam, knows how much he loves school buses. Even when he was in high school, during his last period class, he would watch the buses line up on the side of the building, waiting for school to let out and students to board them.

Adam says it’s his little claim to fame … It’s just something he loves!

A school bus company in Lansing, Michigan, is training its bus drivers and aides to better understand and manage the behavior of general education and special-needs students during the bus ride.

Fred Doelker, the safety and training director for Dean Transportation, said that he teaches empathy skills to his drivers and aides so they can better understand a student’s experience on the school bus. These empathy skills include making connections, such as offering a kind word to students in distress or giving an extra moment of personalized care, and also being aware of how drivers are operating the bus. To experience this type of training, Doelker adds that bus drivers and aides are blindfolded on the bus as passengers and buckled into a wheelchair.

“What we’re helping drivers and attendants understand is what they can reasonably expect on this big yellow bus that’s driving down the street with all different children of all different ages and all different development,” Doelker told the local news source.

Dean Transportation currently transports about 80,000 Michigan students each day, and two-thirds of those students have special needs.  In addition to empathy training, the school bus company is also teaching self-care techniques to its drivers so they can become aware of their own emotional state, while also continuing the use of virtual reality technology to supplement training in real-life scenarios.