How much oversight do you have over your buses, while they're on the road? If one suddenly came to an unexpected stop or deviated from its route without warning, how long would it take you to know?

For too many districts, the answer would be "a long time." Without being able to directly track buses on their routes, they're left with little way of overseeing bus's progress aside from relying on radio reports. And if the bus driver is unable -or unwilling- to radio in, they're basically in the dark. 

We keep waiting for the bus driver shortage to end, but it doesn't. For years now, schools have been struggling to find enough school bus drivers to keep all their routes running, and still the problem persists. According to recent studies, 24% of districts describe their shortage to be "severe" or "desperate," and another 38% report "moderate" staffing problems. Only around 10% claim to have no driver staffing issues at all.

In short, districts will have to continue to hustle if they're going to find new drivers, and keep trying new tactics. Here are some more things to try!

Ever since its early adoption by some school districts, student and bus tracking has been a hot-button debate topic. Over the last few years, myths have been formulated and then debunked, and the benefits have abounded and transformed the skeptics. 

As drivers around the country break out their snow tires, school district transportation departments are preparing buses for chilly temperatures. Ensuring that your fleet stays in tip-top shape during the winter months takes some effort and planning. Here are some tips for winter school bus fleet maintenance.

Driver fatigue has been the cause of many school bus accidents over the years.  There are instances of school bus drivers falling asleep behind the wheel resulting in students being injured and in the most unfortunate of circumstances being killed.

When it comes to providing school bus driver training, the key to success is going beyond the basics. Of course, a bus driver must know how to safely maneuver a bus, but the job of a school bus driver is filled with complexities that must be prepared for. Here are five crucial tips for driver training to increase school transportation and student safety.

There are certainly pros and cons to outsourcing student transportation, and many administrators hold strong opinions on the matter. With more and more districts facing the stark reality of decreased budgets, transportation outsourcing is becoming a common practice.

Scheduling safe school bus routes is a serious initiative for every school district. As a school administrator, transportation manager, or transportation contractor, your main goal is to get students to and from school safely, every day. 

When assessing your school district’s transportation program, there are a number of factors to analyze that make up a successful program. Cost management and benchmarking goals play an important role in determining how well your program operates.

School bus driver satisfaction is an important goal for many transportation programs seeking to reduce employee turnover and provide beneficial work conditions to employees.

Student safety is the number one priority for school transportation professionals. With over 55% of US students riding school buses, finding the best way to operate a fleet impacts millions of students across the country. School districts are facing great pressure to meet the needs of their students with a minimal effect to their budget. Implementing a school bus finder can help your district do just that.

In recent years, many school districts have experienced an uptick in the amount of requests to transport service animals. In fact, some states now require this service by law. There are many reasons that a student may work with a service animal, usually a dog. These special animals help those with visual impairment, help to alert a student that they have a low or high blood sugar level, are about to have a seizure and even provide comfort during an anxiety attack.

The subject of child safety restraint systems such as seat belts on school buses has been hotly debated for many years. Properly installed child safety restraint systems keep small children restrained in their seats during bus travel. They can come installed in school buses from the factory, or added to buses at a later time. Though there is no federal mandate, many individual school districts and states are choosing to install these safety tools on their buses. So, when and why would you install safety restraint systems on your district’s buses?

There is no denying that technology advances are affecting the way we work and live our lives. This is especially true when it comes to student transportation.

Bullying in the educational setting is a problem that has captured the attention of school districts across North America. Anytime the physical and emotional safety of a child is threatened, their ability to learn decreases. According to the U.S. Department of Education, nearly 10 percent of school bullying happens on buses. In order to keep bullying at bay in your district, it’s vital to train bus drivers so that they are prepared to handle threats.

While creating safe and efficient school bus routes is the main focus of most school district transportation programs, protecting student, parent and school data should be a major priority. School transportation software offers benefits such as route optimization, but the software also stores sensitive data.

Keeping track of students is a priority that is increasing in importance in school districts across North America and around the world. One of the easiest and most cost-efficient ways to track students is by utilizing an ID system. Student ID badge usage is an efficient and cost-effective way to track students. Learn more about utilizing RFID systems  to keep students safe and save districts money.

4 Things Every Transportation Official Needs to Know

Prior to understanding the industry of student transportation, I knew my child got on a bus with a driver and other children and was transported to school.  It was simple right? How hard could it be?  Now that I have an in-depth knowledge of the industry, I have an unbelievable amount of respect for the men and women that tackle this task every day.  From the directors, to the drivers, to the administrative assistants, I am here to say I could not do what you do! It is not an easy task, there are many factors that come into play.  Below are some tips for transportation officials from a parent’s point of view to hopefully help make your lives a little easier and understand where we are coming from.

The jobs of school bus drivers and transportation administrators are vitally important. As the adults responsible for getting students to and from school, field trips, and special events safely, taking appropriate precautions to prepare for and respond to emergencies is an important part of these jobs.

Transporting special needs students to and from school is a challenge for many bus drivers, even when school bus routes are organized and a school district’s fleet management is effective.

School districts across North America are employing several transportation management solutions to increase fuel efficiency and cut costs, especially given the recent spike in gas prices. Investing in fuel-efficient tires for their buses is one chosen strategy. The question is, do tires designed for fuel efficiency really work? The short answer is: they do, but they don’t necessarily save districts money.

When it comes to passing school buses, motorists in each state are subject to a different set of laws and regulations. Though most motorists understand the safety risks of illegally passing a bus, it remains a consistent, though dangerous, practice. In fact, a survey conducted in 2019 by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services indicates that there are more than 17 million violations each school year.

Getting students safely to and from school is a priority for everyone.  However many school districts are experiencing a shortage in school bus drivers.  School bus driver shortage is an ongoing challenge that districts repeatedly face before, during and throughout each school year.  There are varying reasons for the shortage, but the effects are clear.  The shortage puts additional pressure on existing drivers and route scheduling.

Students who are being bullied often exhibit some warning signs.  If parents, school bus drivers, teachers and other school officials are aware of these signs they can take action to stop and work on reducing or eliminating the issues.

School buses are truly the country’s largest public transportation systems. In recent years, incidents around the country have forced the important issue of student safety to the forefront. As parents, teachers and administrators advocate for increased security for school bus riders, equipping school buses with monitors is on the rise.

Most experts agree that taking students on field trips is a positive educational experience. A recent study cited by the National Education Foundation found that, regardless of a student’s socioeconomic status, gender, or ethnicity, students who take field trips benefit from higher grades, a higher graduation rate, and a greater chance of future success.

Unfortunately, many school districts are forced to cut back on field trips due to budgetary concerns. The good news is that today’s transportation management software makes field trips easier to prepare for while allowing you to make the most out of your district’s field trip budget.

It’s no secret that school districts across the country are having a difficult time balancing their budgets. Whenever a school district faces financial challenges, the transportation department is a likely target for cuts. Eliminating bus stops and changing routes often concerns parents and administrators. Fortunately, bus-routing software can help you to optimize your routes without compromising student safety.

It’s no secret that school districts across North America are looking into alternative fuels for their pupil transportation, not only to minimize negative impact on the environment, but also to save money. While a majority of school buses are still powered by diesel, more and more districts are shifting to propane.

Each day, more than half of America’s K-12 students take the bus to school. In fact, the school bus industry is the largest form of mass transit in the U.S. School buses keep cars off the road and the environment cleaner. Making sure that school buses run efficiently strengthens their positive environmental impact while saving districts money.

If your district is thinking about adding electric vehicles (EVs) to your school bus fleet, don't let outdated fears hold you back! Electric buses have come a long way in the last decade, from being impractical to being entirely capable of serving a school district's needs.

It's no secret that the school bus driver shortage is only getting worse.  Year after year, school districts are having more difficulty finding drivers, and it's becoming an increasing burden on district transportation managers. The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has only made the situation worse, with many drivers deciding to retire, or move into other fields - especially if they feel like they aren't getting proper support from their district.

According to multiple studies, less than half of students who are eligible to ride the school bus are actually doing so. Low school bus ridership can actually be a problem for districts that are looking to maintain their state funding or keep a full fleet of school buses active.

It seems like states are finally starting to get serious about helping school districts overcome the ongoing school bus driver shortage. Coming right after New York's announcement of programs aimed at recruiting more drivers, Massachusetts has taken things a step further. They're activating National Guard troops to become bus drivers for in-need districts.

Tensions in America are high right now, and it's spilling over into our schools. These days, it seems like the news is full of stories about conflicts between parents and school staff, including bus drivers. There had always been occasional reports of conflicts or fights between drivers and parents, but now we're seeing such reports all the time.

In previous articles, we mentioned that it seemed like state intervention may be called for when dealing with the school bus driver shortage - and apparently, New York agrees. New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced a series of state-level actions intended to help alleviate the driver shortage across all of its districts.

What is New York doing? And what more could it or other states potentially do? Let's take a look.

The ongoing shortage of school bus drivers may be hitting a breaking point. Schools were already struggling to keep enough drivers on-staff to fulfill their transportation obligations despite the disruption of COVID-19. Now, there's a new threat: school bus driver protests and strikes.

We all know that the school bus driver shortage is a problem and that it's not getting better. In some areas, it seems, things are getting much worse. Reports have come out about how driver shortages in South Carolina are causing excessive delays and a lot of stress among local residents.

Few bus accidents could be more devastating than being hit by a train - and it does happen. While train-related accidents are rare, there have been several in the past decade. This could easily be fatal to everyone on the bus if it happens, which is why it's important that school bus drivers regularly receive railroad safety refreshers.

What are the most important aspects of railroad safety to consider? Let's take a look.

In the ongoing push to move towards ecologically friendly bus fleets, electric school buses are rapidly gaining traction. Modern electric buses have overcome nearly all the problems that faced them a decade ago - they're now as powerful and robust as diesel buses and can have batteries with enough capacity to serve all but the largest of rural districts.

It's distressing how basic public health measures fighting COVID-19 have become heavily politicized, but the trend continues.  Following in the footsteps of states like Texas and Florida, Tennessee's governor Bill Lee recently signed an executive order (PDF) forbidding school districts from requiring masks without allowing parental opt-out. This order covers all school-related activities, even school bus masking.

As school districts look to upgrade their aging diesel bus fleets to more modern, ecologically friendly options, electric school buses are becoming an increasingly popular option. Old problems with limited power and battery life are quickly being overcome. Modern electric buses are now an entirely viable option for most districts.

One of the benefits of electric buses is that their maintenance requirements are generally lower than those of diesel buses, but it's still good to know what your district is getting into. Here's a quick overview of the differences in maintenance procedures.

One eternal problem with school bus rides, particularly in larger districts, is how much time they can take out of a student's day. When many students are riding for an hour or more every day, that can seriously cut into their time for studying or other academic activities.

This is why on-bus Internet access has become a major topic of school bus technology. With a combination of 5G cell service and an onboard WiFi router, a bus can provide its students with plenty of bandwidth, and encourage them to spend more time studying or doing homework while on the bus.

The sad reality is that the bus driver shortage isn't going away - it's only getting worse. The COVID-19 outbreak spurred a lot of people to leave bus driving for other careers or retire if that was an option. One recent study showed that 80% of districts are struggling to fulfill all their bus routes.

So it's no wonder that districts are increasingly looking for creative solutions to the driver shortage. One option that's gaining traction is changing school bell times to allow for fewer buses to run more often. 

There's good news for districts that are looking for ways to fund a school bus Wi-Fi upgrade program. Due to overwhelming popularity, the FCC has announced a second round of funding grants to help pay for onboard Internet services!

Earlier this year, the FCC made several billion available in grants for Wi-Fi upgrades, as well as other Internet-related hardware, as part of the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF). Demand was huge, and many schools weren't able to get the money they needed. Others missed the filing deadline or had other bureaucratic issues, brought about by the ongoing disruption of COVID-19 and its variants.

Few semesters have ever been under such a cloud of uncertainty as back to school 2021 will be. In many places, this is the first time that regular school will happen in over a year, and a lot of people are still worried about it happening smoothly.

A lot of that uncertainty is going to revolve around your school bus transportation. With the risk of COVID-19 infections still a concern, especially the new Delta variant, everyone in your district - including parents, students, and staff - needs to know that your transportation system will be ready to do its job while keeping students safe.

School Transportation News recently posted an in-depth article talking about new challenges facing the student bus transportation industry. The various economic upheavals of 2020, spearheaded by the COVID-19 outbreak, have disrupted supply chains around the world. This is affecting manufacturers in every industry, including those involved in the creation and maintenance of school buses.

Despite all the economic hurdles of the last year, districts are still finding ways to upgrade their school busses to better, cleaner options. School Bus Fleet recently reported on a California district, Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District in Napa County, which received a state grant allowing them to purchase two propane-powered buses.

At this point, it's almost inarguable that diesel-powered buses need to go away. The questions are, how to make it happen, and which alt-fuel to switch to? Currently, the major contenders for eco-friendly school buses are either propane or electric.

Is your district still doing everything possible to keep your school buses safe from COVID-19? Even though vaccination rates are rising, and infections are dropping, it's still a threat. Worse, new mutations like the Delta variant are creating new threats, and forms that transmit more easily than the original COVID-19.

We recently came across a fascinating article on School Bus Fleet, interviewing Johana Vicente. Vicente is the national director of a socio-environmental activist group called Chispa, dedicated to looking at the impact of fossil fuels on people of color. They speak out against both the exploitative ways fossil fuels are obtained and processed, as well as how low-income minority communities are often disproportionately affected by pollution.

For the past year or more, during the COVID-19 outbreak, most schools have been relying on remote learning to supplement or replace in-class learning. However, as vaccination rates rise around the country, and overall infection and death rates fall, schools are beginning to look forward to resuming normal in-person classes.

Most recently, New York City (NYC) announced that it will end all remote learning for Fall 2021, and resume normal schooling. Since NYC was hit hard by COVID-19, this is a big sign that things truly are returning to normal.

Well-trained bus drivers are the foundation of school bus safety. It doesn't matter what kinds of buses you drive or the routes you create if you don't have drivers who are always putting passenger safety first in their thinking. That's why it's vital to occasionally put your drivers through refresher courses, such as defensive driving training.

These may feel like basic suggestions, but even good drivers can get lazy after too many years on the road. An occasional bit of re-training helps remind them of how to maintain school bus safety.

Every year, more pressure is put on school districts to move away from older gasoline/diesel school buses, and to deploy electric vehicles (EVs) instead. EVs have become entirely viable for bus fleets while bringing numerous advantages. EVs require less maintenance, are cheaper to run, and produce effectively no pollution.

School Transportation News recently reported on a nice bit of local news: a 23-year veteran Virginia school bus driver who won $10,000 for her excellent service. Beyond simply being a great driver, she was constantly looking for ways to help her students and her community.

Near the end of 2020, Congress and President Trump passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which contained provisions for $2 billion in economic relief for transportation companies negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.  These provisions are known as the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) grants. This was excellent news for school bus contractors, who have been suffering under the ongoing restrictions and lockdowns, along with schools being slow to reopen.

When a bus stops and children are loading or unloading, you'd want to think the driver is in full control of the situation - but they aren't. Buses, by their nature, have massive blind spots which impact the driver's visibility. This is a school bus safety issue when the bus is stopped or moving, but it's a particular hazard when children are nearby or in those blind spots.

When the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak hit, properly disinfecting school buses became a top priority for school districts. At a minimum, districts stepped up the use of disinfecting chemicals and products like hand sanitizer. Many even upgraded their buses, installing systems such as intense UV light systems or disinfectant sprayers which would facilitate easier cleaning.

What's going to happen to the traditional yellow school bus in the years ahead?

Given how much the COVID-19 outbreak has shaken up industries and economies around the world, a lot of people are wondering what it means for the future of school bus transportation. Assuming that schools will eventually fully reopen and resume 'business as usual,' will there be any long term impacts on the transportation systems?

It's harder than ever for school districts to find enough drivers for their school bus routes. The driver shortage was a problem even before the COVID-19 outbreak, and now it's only gotten worse. An estimated 80% of schools are having trouble finding enough drivers, and that's a big problem when schools are legally mandated to provide transportation to their students.

It's been well-known for generations that pollution within cities is a problem, but it's only in recent years that we've started to realize just how bad the problem is. Pollution doesn't just poison the air and environment, but it can directly harm people as well. This has been dramatically illustrated by many recent studies which show a strong link between pollution and declining academic performance among schoolchildren.

There was a recent feature on STN about Tim Cribley, a Michigan school bus driver who was declared a “Bus Guardian Hero.” Cribley got a well-deserved moment in the sun. It was a chance for the school to highlight the great work he’d done for the district. 

So, why doesn’t this happen more often?

These are chaotic times for school districts and school bus transportation managers. Between the ongoing driver shortage and all the disruption caused by COVID-19, it's easy to feel like things are getting a bit out of control.

Well, take heart, because you're not alone. Recently, HopSkipDrive conducted an extensive survey (PDF) of school districts across the country. The questions were centered on the problems they're facing, and what they consider to be the most pressing issues at the moment.

When school districts want to - or need to - reduce the costs of their transportation system, one of the best options is to optimize their bus routes. It's rare for a district to have perfect route optimization, and just about any updates they can make will result in cost savings down the road. In best cases, they may even be able to entirely eliminate one or more routes, drastically reducing costs as well as reducing the harm done by the ongoing school bus driver shortage.

We recently came across a short article from School Transportation News discussing Indiana's plans to expand usage, penalties, and enforcement of stop-arm cameras on their school buses.

There's no doubt that illegal passing is one of the biggest threats to school bus safety, as well as the safety of its passengers. Children are most at risk when entering or leaving the bus, so it makes sense that this would be a focus. But are stop-arm cameras the best solution

How do we protect students from cars passing illegally, while they're entering or exiting the bus? This is probably one of the biggest questions in the field of school bus safety, and one that continues to be studied intently. For many states, the popular answer is to install stop-arm cameras, but there are other alternatives - and Montana is set to explore those alternatives.

Their plan could potentially be more effective than stop-arm cameras while costing less. 

If your school district is in need of school bus transportation upgrades to help you deal with COVID-19 or to otherwise upgrade your school, there's good news. Congress has passed several bills recently aimed at providing COVID-19 funding to schools, and there is currently a lot of money to be claimed.

In this article, we'll briefly go over what was passed, how much funding is available, and what it can be used for.

For decades, the traditional wisdom said that young children should be 'eased into' full-time schooling. This meant having preschool and kindergarten programs that were only part-time. However, recently, there's been a growing call for a shift to full-day kindergarten - and it's bringing a lot of heated debate from both sides.

There's no simple answer to the question, but here is a quick rundown of the arguments on both sides.

Is simple equality enough to provide a good education, or should educational institutions be aiming for equity instead?

The concept of educational equity has been in circulation for decades and has been steadily gaining traction in schools and the larger teaching community. Simply put, the idea of educational equity means taking active measures to give every student in the classroom the best chance of success, overcoming barriers - such as racial discrimination or socioeconomic status - that might hold them back.

Students need to learn with technology! Schools have been discovering this since the first big push to put computers into classrooms, in the 1980s, and student technology programs continue to expand and grow to this day. Unfortunately, even if educators understand their importance, technology can often be a hard sell at a budgetary level. If you're trying to talk parents into approving a technology funding bill or property tax, for example, you'll need convincing arguments!

Few school districts have ever struggled with having "too much" money, and budgets are tight most of the time. However, things are particularly bad now. With the coronavirus outbreak continuing to create challenges, schools are having to spend a lot of money on health and safety features - money that probably has to be taken away from other initiatives. This makes it absolutely critical that a district be fiscally responsible, and that is something that every district employee should participate in.

How can schools be more fiscally responsible? Here are some ideas.

It's fairly well-known that the 'modern' school system as we know it in America came into being in the first half of the 20th Century - and there have been surprisingly few updates to its structure and content since. Specific subjects are periodically updated according to new findings, but on the whole, the focus of current education is still largely based on last-century issues. Can we really prepare students for the future when the school system lacks a curriculum focused on 21st century topics?

Are charter schools a good way to create better outcomes for children in school? For a long time, many have said so. Privately owned charter schools, funded from the same coffers as public schools, were supposed to offer competition and alternatives for parents looking for the best learning environment for their children.

However, now, roughly 30 years after the beginning of the movement, charter schools are starting to lose their luster. Many are calling for charter school reform, or even their de-funding. It's a complicated issue, but let's take a look at some of the basic matters under debate.

More than 20 states in the United States allow school districts to install stop-arm cameras on their buses - and Kentucky may be the next to join them. House Bill 189 recently passed the state House, and it seems likely to go on to become law in the near future.

Stop-arm cameras are a popular measure for increasing school bus safety, by penalizing drivers who illegally pass school buses while they are stopped. Children are endangered every time a driver ignores the stop sign, so cutting down on illegal passing is a priority for districts.  

One major school bus safety issue that perhaps doesn't receive enough attention is the problem of overcrowding. When districts are low on buses or drivers, they may end up running their buses with more students onboard than is safe for the vehicle. This is definitely a problem, but it's a problem with complicated causes.

In response, the Maryland House of Reps recently passed a bill explicitly making it illegal to run overcrowded buses. While its creator touts the bill as "common sense," it doesn't seem to actually do much to combat the core problem.

Texas recently made headlines for stepping down its COVID-19 mask requirements. Businesses around the lone star state are no longer mandated to enforce mask-wearing on their premises - but they are still allowed to voluntarily require masks, if they choose.

Electric school buses may be one of the most misunderstood types of alt-fuel buses.  In many ways, they're the safest and cleanest of all the ways you could power a bus, but there is a lot of misinformation out there. Some of the myths used to be true, and some are outright fabrications, but they all may hold districts back from investing in a viable alt-energy system.

If your school district is interested in upgrading to electric school buses, you may get some help in the next few years. The "Clean School Bus Act" has been re-introduced in the House Of Representatives, and would provide over $1 billion dollars in funding to help districts pay for clean-energy bus upgrades.

The bill was first introduced in 2019 by several Democrats in Congress, but due to political tensions at the time, it died in a Senate committee without much action. Now, it has been reintroduced and stands a much better chance of passing. Passage isn't a sure thing - and the government has a lot on its plate at the moment - but if it does pass it could be good news for districts hoping to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.

Transporting special needs students always has some additional challenges, and that's especially true during the coronavirus pandemic. School bus drivers and transportation directors need to be making concerted efforts to help special needs children maintain safety protocols.

Every student's situation will be a little different, but we have some suggestions that may help in ensuring that proper safety procedures are followed by all students.

If your school is maintaining in-person classes during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, your district should be doing everything possible to reduce the chances of disease transmission. This is a major challenge - especially on school buses! As a small enclosed space, school buses are perfect for spreading a disease that thrives through person-to-person contact.

The only good solution is to maintain social distancing rules, even on the bus. This won't be easy, but it's better than having a major outbreak at your school. Fortunately, we have a few tips to make this task a bit easier.

There's no doubt that maintaining and running a school bus fleet is one of the most expensive aspects of school budgeting. It's often the 2nd or 3rd largest line item in many school budgets. Buses are costly to run and maintain but are absolutely required in every district.

This makes it vital that districts do everything they can to keep bus transportation costs low - especially now that the coronavirus is creating new budget strains. Here are a few tips on lowering your fleet costs.

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, schools around the nation were struggling to find enough school bus drivers to keep all their routes running. The coronavirus only made things worse. It's become harder than ever for schools to find and keep drivers, particularly when many drivers in high-risk groups are unwilling to endanger themselves.

To keep your school district running, you need to be doing everything possible to maintain loyalty among your drivers. Once someone is on the payroll, you need to hang onto them. Here are some suggestions.

Shortly before leaving office, President Donald Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 into law. Part of this law includes over $54 billion in funding grants to help both public and charter schools respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

For as long as the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak lasts, it's going to be absolutely vital to keep your school buses clean and sanitized. Buses will always be a high-risk area for transmission, so they call for high levels of diligence. Parents need to feel safe when putting their children on your buses!

Here are some important tips to help ensure your buses are as sanitary as possible for every trip

If your district already utilizes tracking devices to plot your bus's location in real-time, it might be time to open up that service to more people in your community! Schools around the nation are beginning to offer smartphone apps to parents, allowing them to see the location of their child's bus while it's on route.

The value of this is obvious. Many parents are balancing tight schedules and can plan their days more efficiently if they know the bus is running on time. This can be great for parents - if you pick an app with the right features!

 We recently saw a wonderful article from School Transportation News (STN) highlighting some of the most extraordinary things done by school bus drivers in the past year.  The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak challenged service workers around the world to step up, but few outside of the healthcare industry have done more than bus drivers.

Of all the back-to-school challenges facing school districts in 2020, the problem of successfully busing students may be one of the most pressing. By law, every district must provide transportation for any student that needs it - but schools only have so many buses, and safe social distancing during an outbreak means those buses should only be 1/6 to 1/4 full. Otherwise, the students are so close that they could transmit the coronavirus simply by breathing at each other.

If your school is closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak or only operating at a reduced capacity, it may feel like you're letting your community down. Parents rely on functioning schools for everything from childcare to meal preparation, and in these challenging times, it can be difficult to know how to best help out. 

While there are no easy answers here, many schools have found a way to reduce the burden on parents who can't send their kids to school - using school buses to deliver lunches to low-income families.

During times of crisis, it's more important than ever to reach out to the public and assure them that their schools - and their school transportation systems - are safe. Fortunately, despite the chaos, the American School Bus Council (ASBC) was able to carry off its annual National School Bus Safety Week outreach program without a hitch.

No one enjoys contemplating the worst things that can go wrong, but when students' lives are on the line, it's important to consider as many scenarios as possible. That's why it's so important to supplement your regular school bus driver training with special lessons focusing on disasters, medical emergencies, criminal activity, and other low-probability/high-risk events that might potentially happen on the road.

There's no definitive list of everything which could go wrong, of course, but we have some suggestions for elements to add to your school bus driver training program.

It's hard to even list all the ways that the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is affecting communities across America. Many of these problems center on schools and school districts. On one hand, the rational response to a disease outbreak is to limit in-person school sessions, reducing disease exposure. On the other hand, many parents rely on schooling for the services it provides, including reduced-price lunches, and providing care for students while the parents are at work.

2020 was a year of crisis for many industries, and that certainly includes the student transportation industry. Schools across the nation were completely unprepared for the pandemic, leading to them having to make many blind leaps into policy changes or new technologies while looking for ways to keep students safe.

How is this affecting the industry, and what changes are likely to continue into the future? This interesting series of interviews with student transportation industry leaders from School Bus Fleet has a lot of ideas. Here are some of the key takeaways we got from it.

School bus safety is one of the foremost concerns for any school transportation program - and there is no shortage of companies trying to sell you upgrades in the name of safety. Sorting through them in terms of cost vs benefit can be difficult, particularly with so many high-tech solutions entering the market.

But, what if one of the best school bus safety measures is also among the cheapest and easiest to implement? Many districts are coming to believe that simply adding more lights to their buses can keep students safe - and there's plenty of reason to believe that's the case.

Being a bus driver is never easy, but the job has become particularly difficult with the COVID-19 coronavirus still threatening the country. On top of their other responsibilities, bus drivers are now expected to do much of the heavy lifting in protecting students' health while onboard their buses.

Is your district doing everything they can to support your drivers? Better policies and updated school bus driver training can make their lives easier while increasing safety for the students. 

Contrary to the hopes of many, there's no sign that the COVID-19 coronavirus is going away any time soon. In fact, new infections across America are at an all-time high. This means that it's vital for school districts and student transportation directors to do everything they can to protect students and staff from infection while riding on school buses.

Fortunately, with some districts now having been back in operation for two months or more, we're seeing some common strategies involved. Based on a recent series of STN interviews, we've noticed some responses and suggestions that appear repeatedly. These are some of the most common and apparently effective steps that any district could take.

While the specifics vary from state to state, school districts are universally required to provide transportation to and from school for every student. Most students are simply transported on standard school buses, but there are exceptions - particularly where special needs students are concerned.

How has your district updated school bus cleaning policies to adapt to the coronavirus outbreak?

Providing transportation to students is a must, even during a pandemic, but school buses create a significant new potential source of infection. Any student - or other riders - could theoretically be infected and contagious at any time, even if they do not yet show symptoms of COVID-19. If they are infectious, then their presence on the bus will leave plenty of contaminants behind - on the seats, the windows, the doors, the floors, even in the air within the bus.

As schools look to reopen in Fall 2020 despite the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, one of the biggest challenges will be in successfully adapting their student bus transportation system. When crafting safety plans, it's vital that one group not go overlooked: your bus drivers.

In the year of the coronavirus - and with most researchers suggesting it will continue to be a threat in 2021 - school bus safety measures now largely revolve around finding ways to prevent spread of the disease. Most schools are doing this with traditional disinfecting products like sanitary wipes and sprays, but this is a slow and time-consuming process that can still miss a lot of contaminated areas.

How do you maintain school bus safety, when there's a pandemic going on? Districts around the country are wrestling with how to limit the spread of COVID-19 within their buses, something which is no easy task. One proposal was to install plexiglass barriers within the bus, similar to cough guards at restaurants and checkout lines, to limit disease spread. However, there were questions as to whether this could be done legally and safely.

School buses are among the safest forms of transportation ever created, but there are still times during a bus's route that the students may be in danger - and no situation is more dangerous than when students are getting on or off the bus. One of the most critical elements of school bus safety is protecting students when they are exposed to traffic.

For better or worse, back-to-school 2020 is here around the country, despite the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.  Every district has their own solutions for how to continue providing education despite the coronavirus, but one thing is indisputable: drastic changes have to be made to the US school system, and those changes are likely to stay in place for at least the entire 2020-21 year.

If you want a model for how technology can be used to improve school bus safety, you could easily look to Chesapeake Public School District in Chesapeake, VA.  As highlighted in a recent School Bus Fleet article, the district has made a nearly unprecedented deal with BusPatrol, Inc, to implement top-to-bottom upgrades to their bus fleet.

Few districts will manage to arrange such an expansive upgrade deal all at once, but looking at the tech they will be implementing can point towards a strong long-term school bus safety upgrade path for districts on a budget.

When was the last time you ran a tornado drill for a school bus?

It's a simple question, but in our experience, a lot of districts get uncomfortable when you ask it. Now, if you can answer "recently!" then that's great - but too many districts tend to focus their disaster preparedness almost entirely on the school itself. This leaves a critical school bus safety gap, if the bus is ever caught in a weather disaster or other major unpredictable event.

It's impossible to foresee every eventuality, but most districts could still implement some new safety measures and help improve student safety - and usually at a low cost.

We keep waiting for the bus driver shortage to end, but it doesn't. For years now, schools have been struggling to find enough school bus drivers to keep all their routes running, and still the problem persists. According to recent studies, 24% of districts describe their shortage to be "severe" or "desperate," and another 38% report "moderate" staffing problems. Only around 10% claim to have no driver staffing issues at all.

In short, districts will have to continue to hustle if they're going to find new drivers, and keep trying new tactics. Here are some more things to try!

New innovations in school bus technology are improving student management and helping to create new learning opportunities - innovations like putting WiFi access points onto school buses. These access points run off of cellular connections, and can be tightly managed to regulate what students are allowed to access, making them a solid bus upgrade for numerous reasons.

The last few years have been rocky for the Alternative Fuel Tax Credits introduced during the Obama administration. These tax credits were intended to spur the adoption of alternative vehicle fuel sources, including alternative school bus fuels, as well as also encouraging the construction of alt-fuel refill stations.  

The credits were originally scheduled to end in 2017 but received short-term extensions to keep them going. This has happened several times since and, fortunately, another extension recently passed and was signed into law. So, the credits will now remain active until Aug 11, 2020, giving school districts and other operations more time to submit claims from 2018-19.

From the perspective of a district transportation manager, the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak came at one of the worst possible times. No time is good for an epidemic, but with schools already hurting from the shortage of school bus drivers, even minor disruptions to the workforce can cause major problems.  

So what can a school do to reduce the chances of illness? Or, if their school bus drivers do get sick, what alternatives could they set up? There are not many easy answers here, but districts still need to look into what they can do.

Schools reopening this fall are almost certainly going to be making significant changes to their buses and routing, in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus. If these changes are going to involve adding new bus stops - such as to prevent too many students from congregating at the same stop - school bus safety must be given a high priority! New stops should be chosen based on how safe they will be for students to utilize when getting on and off the bus.

The problem of finding enough school bus drivers to keep districts' bus routes running is nothing new. Districts have been facing a bus driver shortage for years, without any real sign of the situation getting better. Now, however, there's a new factor at play: the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Around the nation, one of the most pressing questions being asked over and over is "Should we be reopening schools in the fall?" Every district in America is currently faced with what seems like an impossible choice: weighing the needs of children to be educated against the chances of contracting the COVID-19 coronavirus.

For school districts planning on reopening in the fall, the next few weeks will be spent planning thoroughly on how to reduce the risks of disease spread. COVID-19 is still active throughout North America, so children need to be kept as safe as possible.  

Will your school district be reopening this fall, in the wake of the coronavirus? If so, one of the biggest challenges you're likely to face is the problem of running your school bus transportation system in a way that minimizes the chances of disease transmission.  

There has never been a more uncertain time for the school bus industry, at least in recent memory. The outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus has disrupted schools, businesses, and transportation across North America, and there are no signs of that disruption slowing much in the near future.

What do you do if you suspect a student coming to school in the fall has the COVID-19 coronavirus or may have been exposed to it? Districts across America are asking this question. Fortunately, they have some guidance. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently released a series of recommendations on how to handle these situations.

Are you going to be able to maintain social distancing on your school buses? If not, your entire district will be at risk of COVID-19 outbreaks. Any districts re-opening in the fall must take all possible precautions to maintain school bus safety, and minimize the chances of disease spread.

This will not be easy, but we have suggestions culled from district recommendations from around the country to help make it possible.

For fans of electric school buses and other electric vehicle initiatives, there's big news to celebrate coming out of New York City. Recently, the mayor of NYC, Bill De Blasio, signed an executive order which mandates that all NYC government fleet vehicles be electric by 2040 - and that includes the school bus fleets.

With the rising costs of health care in the country, more and more people are turning to non-prescription products in an attempt to cure their various ailments.  Among various alternatives, the use of cannabidiol (CBD) oil is growing, due to its seeming efficacy at treating a variety of mental- and pain-related problems.

Is your district giving enough support to your school bus maintenance crews during the winter? Proper bus maintenance should always be a priority, but it's absolutely vital during the winter. Even minor breakdowns or on-road incidents become far more dangerous when the roads are icy and the temperatures are below freezing.

Be sure your maintenance crews are doing everything they can to ensure your buses are safe in the winter!

How robust is your school bus safety plan?

Of course, any school district will have safety plans in place for their buses and transportation system. However, these plans are rarely complete. Arguably, they cannot be - unexpected situations are always possible. Still, there are certain blind spots that we tend to see going unaddressed, particularly when the danger doesn't require the bus to be underway.

Distracted driving is a serious problem on America's roads.  According to compiled statistics, nine people die every day due to a distracted driver, while hundreds more are injured. Distracted driving can happen almost anywhere, at any time, to anyone - including your school bus drivers.

School bus safety is critical at all times of the year, but it's particularly crucial during the winter months. Snowy weather and icy roads present some of the biggest dangers a bus and its passengers can face, yet your drivers will be called on to drive in inclement weather day after day.

If you're looking for new ideas to help make these trips even safer, we've got plenty of tips.

For years, the education sector has been plagued by a school bus driver shortage, and there's no end yet in sight. All signs and surveys point towards districts continuing to struggle to find sufficient drivers to cover their routes. That's causing continuing problems within the district administration, as well as for huge numbers of parents and students trying to find stable transportation options.

How are you going to improve your student bus transportation system in 2020 and beyond? The previous decade has seen huge shifts in how schools handle their buses, as well as student safety. Now is the perfect time to start looking ahead, and planning how you'll improve your bus system in the next decade to come!

Here's a school bus safety violation that shouldn't happen, yet it does with surprising frequency: running buses that are overcrowded. In Texas, for example, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) was forced to step in and issue public advisories, due to receiving too many complaints of buses running with too many children onboard.

Going into 2020, there are now nine states that openly mandate school bus seat belts within their school districts, and two others offering grants or other incentives.  Numerous other states are debating the issue. While not truly decided yet, it seems that the seat belt discussion has reached a tipping point.

Without a doubt, one of the most serious threats to school bus safety is the problem of other drivers ignoring the stop arm. Every time a car blows by the stop-arm sign, they endanger students who are getting on and off the bus, with injuries or deaths occurring every year. Statistics show that there are tens of thousands of such violations every day, and each has the potential to be deadly.  

So, states are seeking solutions, passing laws to try to curb this rampant issue. Ohio has become the latest, with a bill simply called the School Bus Safety Act (SB-134). However, its impact could be far-ranging across the state, and potentially a model for legislation to come - if it passes. 

While school buses are overwhelmingly safe for passengers, accidents do happen.  No district or driver likes to think about the possibility of being in an accident, even a non-fatal one. However, when thousands of collisions involving a school bus happen every year, odds are that it will happen to many drivers during their career.

The actions of the driver and district immediately following the accident are crucial, because they will set the tone for the investigation that follows. Poor school bus crash reporting policies can increase the likelihood of lawsuits, or criminal prosecution, while good reporting policies can help protect everyone involved.

Passed in 2010, the Diesel Emissions Reductions Act (DERA) was a forward-looking piece of US legislation aimed at reducing pollution on the nation's streets and highways. At its heart, it is a loan and grant program, authorizing the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to disburse millions of dollars in funds to states, or individual organizations, for the purpose of upgrading fleets away from unclean diesel engines.

At this point, it's become commonplace to hear stories of cities and districts deciding to budget for school bus seat belts - but here's a story with a twist. The city council of Beachwood City, OH, a suburb of Cleveland, recently purchased two new belt-equipped buses, along with retrofits of their existing buses, to the tune of $250,000. They were, in fact, the first district in Ohio to do so.

Why?  Because the children asked for it!

Right now, few issues are as contentious in the school bus industry than the topic of school bus stop-arm cameras. The issue of motorists illegally passing stopped buses is undoubtedly a major problem, with millions of violations across the country every school year. However, whether stop-arm cameras are the right solution to this problem is more contentious.

Senator Charles "Chuck" Schumer (D-NY) is concerned about the issue, and ultimately believes it should become a federal matter - that the federal government should pass blanket laws allowing school bus stop-arm cameras, rather than leaving it to the states. He made this clear in a recent press release, where he called upon the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to release more data on the topic.

When a parent allows their child to ride a bus, there's a lot of trust involved. They need to believe that the driver is going to protect the students, and consider school bus safety to be their top priority. Unfortunately, this is not always the case - as we see in a recent incident in which a Tennessee driver was caught texting-and-driving multiple days in a row.

Tough polices have already ensured that the driver is no longer behind the wheel, but it suggests a problem that still has yet to be fully solved.

In the field of alt-energy school bus designs, electric school buses have lagged behind many of the competitors such as propane or natural gas. Until recently, electric buses had been seen as too under-powered and too short-ranged to be effective as student transport, but now multiple viable models have begun to enter the market.

Now, Virginia has become one of the first states to make a significant push towards the adoption of electric buses within their borders with a pledge of $20 million in funding - and it's with the indirect help of Volkswagen.

Usage of school bus seat belts is growing across the country, with six states already mandating their installation, and several others contemplating similar laws. Along with helping to keep children safe during accidents, there is also growing evidence that belts can significantly improve student behavior any time they ride. This makes a very compelling argument for belts on buses.

However, there has been one major sticking point for many: how is the bus driver supposed to police usage of the belts, especially once the route has begun? An interesting new technology from the company Intermotive called Safe-T-Seat wants to make it easier.

 There are numerous threats to school bus safety any time a bus is on the road, but it's hard to argue against stop arm violators being the biggest threat. Every time a motorist ignores a stop arm, student lives are put at risk. This is not an uncommon occurrence: According to multiple governmental surveys, stop arm violations occur millions of times per year. 

School bus drivers have to do several jobs at once while on the road, and one of the most important is maintaining discipline among the passengers onboard. Keeping students quiet and well-behaved is a major safety issue, and can help contribute to safe driving as well. The question is, how? 

Slowly but surely, states and districts across the country are moving away from diesel and towards alternative fuel sources. For years, it seemed like the best choices were either compressed natural gas (CNG) or propane - but these are still forms of fossil fuels, and therefore only a mild improvement over gasoline or diesel. Now, it seems like electric school buses are finally coming to be seen as a possibility.

School districts around the nation are exploring use of stop arm cameras as a way to deter unsafe driving near their buses. However, a stop arm camera by itself won't stop bad drivers. BusBoss has some tips to help ensure the success of your camera initiative.

Across the country, one of the biggest challenges facing district transportation directors is simply one of staffing. The nationwide school bus driver shortage continues in full swing, with the majority of districts reporting that they lack all the drivers they want. 

However, School Transportation News is now reporting on a recruitment plan pioneered by Bryan ISD in Texas which is simple, straightforward and - so far - successful: Paying new workers for school bus driver training aimed at getting their Commercial Driver's License (CDL). 

The push to embrace alt-fuels in school bus fleets continues unabated, complete with both the Federal government, and many states, offering incentives to move away from gas or diesel. Previously, the conversation about alt-fuel buses mainly revolved around propane vs Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), while electric school buses rarely received much interest.

However, this is starting to change. While, in the past, electric buses were generally considered to be too under-powered to be viable, new generations of electric engines have arrived which are capable of generating more than enough horsepower. Likewise, every year sees increases in battery capacity, allowing electric buses to run all but the largest of routes.

For decades, arguments have raged over whether or not school bus seat belts were a good idea. The official stance was that school buses were already so safe that the additional protection brought by belts would be minimal, or even cause as many problems as solved. However, in recent years, this conventional wisdom has come under intense scrutiny, with experiments at various scales being conducted.

Most of them point towards school bus seat belts being a good idea after all.

Recently, social media was buzzing when a video went viral of a Denver parent forcing her way onto a stopped school bus, and getting into a physical altercation with the bus staff that ultimately required police to break up. This is definitely a worst-case scenario when it comes to problematic parent interactions, but it does illustrate the need for school bus driver training to cover disputes with parents.

Are the tires on your school bus fleet helping or harming your efforts to run a safe, cost-effective bus system? Despite seeming like a relatively minor choice, the kind of tires on your buses can have a lot of impact on both safety and performance. Likewise, proper care and maintenance of the tires can help keep safety standards high, while reducing long-term costs.

Here are a few tips we've picked up over the years.

One difficulty when talking about school transportation management, and school bus safety, is getting a handle on the big picture. Discussions of district transportation systems are often filled with anecdotal evidence, relatively few studies trying to look at the situation on a nationwide basis. That's why it was so refreshing to see the recent study conducted by Transportation Services Co. (TSC).

The study was distributed to over 1,600 districts around the country, and over 300 were returned - a very high sample size, for a voluntary survey like this. However, that allowed TSC to construct a detailed picture of the challenges facing school bus safety programs.

Here are some of the more interesting findings.

Whenever the news reports on a major incident involving a school bus, it's hard not to think "What if that happened to us?" News of a bus emergency is excellent for reflecting on the district's own training and response policies. Would the bus driver know how to handle the situation on their own? How long would it even take for the transportation office to know there was a problem at all?

Do all the vehicles in your school bus fleet include air conditioning? In many districts, this is already the case - yet there are still plenty of districts playing catch-up. A/C comes standard on most new buses, but that doesn't help smaller or lower-income districts who can't afford to replace their fleet. For those districts, retrofitting is an option. 

Retrofitting can allow them to add A/C to existing buses - if they can navigate the maze of choices available. Here are a few of the most important factors to look at.

Who is responsible for school bus safety in a district? On the balance, the only rational answer to the question is "everyone." Whenever some sort of safety incident occurs, there can be a lot of finger-pointing - but at the end of the day, protecting children should be everyone's business. It's not something that can be partitioned.

At this point, most school districts are at least looking at green school buses for their fleet. The problem, of course, is that green school buses are expensive, whether you're going the upgrade route or to entirely replace your older buses. Not every district is in a position to go green, at least not yet.

However, there are still ways you can cut your fuel costs. There are a number of very effective ways that your on-road operational costs can be reduced, and your fuel costs along with. Here are a few ideas.

Just a few years ago, electric school buses were thought to be a pie-in-the-sky concept. There were numerous technical challenges to overcome, with the biggest issue being the matter of pure power. Electrical engines just weren't able to produce enough horsepower to get a bus moving at safe speeds.

Now, things are starting to change. Blue Bird buses has introduced a line of electric school buses that are turning heads - and opening up checkbooks. The latest school district to embrace electric buses is Franklin Pierce School District (FPSD) in Washington. Does their new purchase indicate a shift in attitudes?

When it comes to school bus safety, there is probably no more divisive issue than the question of whether seat belts should be mandated for school buses. After all, belts have been required in other pedestrian vehicles like cars and pickups for fifty years - but they have never been mandated in school buses. Should they be?

This is the question discussed in a new documentary funded by Montana's Public Broadcasting System, called "Safe Enough?" The new hour-long film is creating quite a stir and has already begun to win regional awards. Many are already beginning to wonder if it will tilt the conversation in favor of mandated seat belts.

In May 2018, a truly tragic school bus accident occurred in New Jersey. A bus traveling on I-80 apparently overshot its intended exit, causing the driver to attempt to pull a massive U-turn across multiple lanes. This led to a direct side-on collision from a garbage truck as the bus drove perpendicular to traffic, leading to the deaths of both a student, Miranda Vargas, as well as a teacher.

In December of 2017, a truly horrific school bus accident occurred in Oakland, Iowa. A fire broke out in the engine compartment of a bus, sending dangerous fumes into the bus interior, and ultimately taking the lives of both the driver and a 16-year-old student.

After more than a year of investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a series of recommendations to improve school bus safety - and these are raising some eyebrows across the education sector. Their own report had 10 separate recommendations, but let's focus on the three most impactful.

Last month, a potentially very dangerous mistake occurred in Waterloo, Iowa: A school bus driver mistakenly dropped off an autistic girl at the wrong location. Unsupervised, she wandered more than a mile away and was found at a local Target. Fortunately, she was entirely unharmed.

According to the story, this happened due to multiple failures:

There is ample evidence that the sort of emissions and pollution created by gasoline and diesel vehicles - like school buses - can cause significant health problems among people exposed to the emissions. What has been harder to demonstrate is whether or not those health problems include mental health as well.

On May 17, 2018, a horrific collision occurred between a school bus and a dump truck on a New Jersey highway. It left two dead, including 10-year-old Miranda Vargas, as well as injuring everyone on the bus as well as the driver of the dump truck. Video footage showed the driver of the school bus had driven erratically, taking the bus across lanes at such an extreme angle that it was nearly perpendicular to the road. This is what caused the dump truck to hit it.

Any time a child dies on-board a school bus, it's a tragedy - but it's particularly tragic when the death would have been preventable. That is the case in the death of Terissa Gautney on Feb 28, 2018, on a school bus in Bartow, Florida. Terissa was a special needs student with medical issues, who experienced a silent seizure followed by respiratory distress.

Most of the time, when a bus driver does something that endangers students, it's due to poor judgement. Occasionally, however, it can be malicious - as we saw earlier this year in Farmington, Utah. In a deeply disturbing incident, a 14-year-old biracial child was dragged by the bus for approximately 175 feet, after the 78-year-old driver closed the door on his backpack, trapping him outside.

Maintaining a school bus fleet is one of the single most costly items in a district's budget, but it's one which is absolutely necessary. Schools must run buses and must provide transportation to any families who ask for it. This places a big burden on schools; a burden which is only growing heavier as districts struggle to find enough bus drivers for their routes.

School districts around the nation continue to suffer from the school bus driver shortage, with no relief in sight. It may even be getting worse. In a recent online poll of School Transportation News readers, an astounding eighty-four percent of districts reported that they were short of bus drivers.

All school bus drivers will spend plenty of time in training sessions throughout their career, with much of it mandated by local or state laws. However, sometimes you may have one or more drivers who need more intensive retraining to get them back on track. This can be a tricky proposition because retraining carries a stigma, and can easily be seen as punitive or threatening.

In other situations, that might not be so much of a problem - but with the school bus driver shortage still a major issue, you really need to retain the drivers you have! As such, it's important to conduct your retraining sessions in ways that maximize their potential to improve driver performance, without causing any new problems.

On June 17, 2019, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed Senate Bill 166 into law - fully legalizing the use of school bus stop arm cameras across the state. As with similar laws in other states, these cameras can be used to identify and penalize motorists who disregard the stop arm, endangering children with illegal passing maneuvers. 

Maine is the 19th state to pass such a measure. Combined with the six states who leave it up to the districts, fully half the states of the union now allow for stop arm cameras in some form. However, controversy still swirls around these laws. Will SB166 actually reduce illegal passing near school buses... or is it merely monetizing the endangerment of children?

Concerns about school bus safety are frequently a matter of intense discussion, particularly in the wake of a notable accident involving a school bus on the road. Everyone talks about wanting to make school buses safer, and understandably enough. Every child hurt or killed in a school bus accident is a tragedy.

Yet... the fact is that school buses are already incredibly safe. They have a fatalities-to-riders ratio which is so low that it genuinely becomes reasonable to question whether it can be reliably pushed much lower.

How much oversight do you have over your buses, while they're on the road? If one suddenly came to an unexpected stop or deviated from its route without warning, how long would it take you to know?

For too many districts, the answer would be "a long time." Without being able to directly track buses on their routes, they're left with little way of overseeing bus's progress aside from relying on radio reports. And if the bus driver is unable -or unwilling- to radio in, they're basically in the dark.