New state school bus safety recommendations that call for professional development for drivers, performance evaluations and additional training are already standard for the Akron Public Schools, a spokesperson for the district said.
The Ohio School Bus Safety Working Group recommended the measures, among others, after a Northwestern Local School District student was killed in Clark County, near Springfield, last year when another vehicle collided with his school bus.
The group, made up largely of transportation, insurance and school officials and created by Gov. Mike DeWine in August, suggested 17 changes that could improve school bus safety.
Of the 17 recommendations, APS is already working toward most of them, said Mark Williamson, a district spokesperson. It has no plans to make any other changes as a result of the state recommendations, aside from expanding required training when additional training becomes available.
No recent incidents involving APS buses are serious
In the past two years, there have been 10 recorded incidents involving district buses, according to information from the district. Those include five incidents where buses swiped parked cars or telephone poles, four where buses were hit by cars, and one where juveniles throwing rocks at a bus broke a window. None of the incidents resulted in any injuries.
The new state standards call for performance reviews and evaluations for employees and ask that districts adopt policies that require a thorough evaluation of contracted commercial bus services. The district reviews APS-employed bus drivers annually and also vets commercial bus drivers and vehicles that are used in the district for field trips or other reasons, Williamson said. That includes questions about insurance coverage and particular vehicles being used.
APS does annual training, including on threat assessment, and gives drivers other opportunities to participate in training programs, Williamson said. Those include an annual Bus Road-E-O where drivers can earn re-certification and test their skills in performance drills and written exercises.
Additional training opportunities
The state policy suggests that districts identify and encourage participation in professional development opportunities, including requiring six hours of annual training and advanced training beyond that. Williamson said APS will add any additional recommended training to the four hours it currently requires annually and that opportunities for advanced training will remain. All transportation staffers participated in a two-day critical response training in the 2022-2023 school year, something they said they found beneficial. The state now recommends the training.
The new policy suggestions consider adding more training for mechanics as well, something APS said it would add to a curriculum if it is adopted. Now, mechanics can attend training sessions for drivers.
The district provides drivers and mechanics wellness opportunities and support groups, Williamson said. Some safety announcements are available online; the new recommendations say wide-ranging public safety announcements should be made available.
Grants for safety features
Buses in the district have safety features that include cameras, strobe lights that help reduce rear-end accidents, and a radio communication system between drivers and the transportation office, Williamson said. The proposed changes include recommendations for a state-funded grant program that could pay for additional safety features, including seat belts. Any such program would be based on need.
APS has given buses to the fire and police departments so they can train on how to handle school bus emergencies; the new policy recommends collaboration to help train law enforcement on school bus inspections and common safety risks.
Additionally, students are trained on evacuation drills, and parents and guardians receive a handbook each year with safety rules and transportation standards. The state working group suggested districts offer bus safety orientation to students, parents and guardians at the beginning of each school year.
And the recommendations include support for improving safety conditions around school zones and strengthening penalties for drivers who violate traffic laws in school zones and around buses. The district already encourages bus drivers to use radio communication to the APS transportation office if they see driving concerns; those calls are sent to the Akron Police Department for investigation.
The district also works with the city regarding traffic pattern changes around school pick-up and drop-off.
Reducing risks
Since 2018, APS has participated in the Safe Routes to School program, which seeks to make it safer for students to get to school by improving infrastructure. APS also continues to work with the city to reduce risks at bus stops and along bus routes, per the state recommendations.
The district had no comment on suggestions that the state collect more information on crashes or that it hold regular meetings of stakeholders to identify and fix gaps in responses to bus crashes and other security-related issues.
