South Colonie Schools joins the National Association for School Transportation (NAPT) in celebrating 2018 National School Bus Safety Week.
Held during the third full week of October each year, National School Bus Safety Week is an active and evolving public education program and an excellent way for parents, students, teachers, motorists, school bus operators, school administrators, and other interested parties — to join forces and address the importance of school bus safety.
School bus transportation plays a critical role in the education of our nation’s students, and is the direct link between a neighborhood and the classroom. More than 25 million children ride the yellow bus every school day, and National School Bus Safety Week serves as a reminder for students, parents, teachers, and the community to keep school bus safety in the forefront.
National School Bus Safety Week (Oct. 22-26) kicked off today, however, bus safety is something that is taken very serious in South Colonie and practiced every day by bus drivers, transportation staff, students and parents.
Did you know?
The South Colonie Central School District operates 72 school buses and traveled 724,105 miles last school year. The district employs 77 drivers along with 15 monitors.
Transportation staff members receive extensive training prior to getting behind the wheel of a school bus with students on board. In addition to learning how to drive the bus and pass a road test, they also get classroom training on topics such as:
- Safe loading and unloading of student passengers
- First aid for different types of medical emergencies
- Defensive driving strategies
- Anti-bullying techniques
The district is also proud to report that a number of South Colonie school bus drivers have been recognized over the years with safety awards — including Driver of the Year honors — from the Hudson Valley chapter of the American Automobile Association (AAA).
In addition to South Colonie’s five elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school, the district transport students to 80 schools throughout the Capital District, including private and parochial schools, as well as to various athletic events/competitions and field trips.
The theme of 2018 National School Bus Safety Week is “My Driver – My Safety Hero!” Each year’s theme is derived from a national student poster contest held the previous year. The 2017 winning poster, depicted above and displayed in our schools this week, was drawn by Aumkar Patel, a fifth grader at Henry County Schools in McDonough, GA.
Check back each day here and on our district Facebook page as we feature personal safety video tips from our South Colonie drivers:
- Bus Safety Video Tips From Sue Malewicz, Bus No. 52
- Bus Safety Video Tips From Manch McLaughlin, Bus No. 33
- Bus Safety Video Tips From Nick Ragone, Bus No. 35
- Bus Safety Video Tips From Suzanne Tizzone, Bus No. 40
- Bus Safety Video Tips From Jim Kochan, Bus No. 56
Also, in observance of 2018 National School Bus Safety Week, NAPT offers these tips to keep our children safe at the bus stop all year long: