Staying safe on school buses

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When it comes to transporting children to and from school on buses, Tim Fosbrink’s main concern is safety.

This year, Fosbrink, the director of transportation for Seymour Community School Corp., and his staff of drivers and bus aides are having to take additional steps to keep children safe from COVID-19.

“COVID is just something extra we have to deal with,” he said.

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One of the most noticeable measures is the governor’s mandate to wear a face mask. All students and transportation staff have to wear masks covering their noses and mouths while riding on the buses.

It’s not possible to seat students 6 feet apart from each other without having to add more buses, routes and staff, Fosbrink said. By requiring face masks, students are able to sit closer together, therefore buses can transport the same amount of students as before the pandemic.

Students should bring their own mask, but each bus has a supply of extras for those who do not have one, Fosbrink said.

Parents should take their children’s temperature before sending them to school in the mornings. If they have a fever, they should stay home. Bus drivers will not be checking temperatures.

Each row of seats on the bus is being numbered, and students will be assigned a seat for the purposes of contact tracing. If a student is diagnosed positive for COVID-19, it will be easier for drivers to identify which students were sitting near them.

Although a small bottle of hand sanitizer is available at the front of the bus for the driver, Fosbrink said students should carry their own small, individual bottles in their backpacks or use the dispensers available at the schools.

The corporation also has ordered foggers to sanitize the inside of the buses after all students have been dropped off.

“We’re going to be disinfecting as often as we can,” he said.

Even with the pandemic, Fosbrink said he is more concerned with the dangers posed by motorists who do not stop when buses are picking up or dropping off students.

“People have got to stop for the school buses,” he said. “Kids’ lives are at stake, plain and simple.”

Bus drivers are trained on how to handle all kinds of situations that may come up during a route, but the one thing they can’t control is how other motorists drive.

“We can’t control the public,” he said.

Since the corporation is encouraging parents and guardians to transport their children instead of sending them on the bus, Fosbrink expects the number of bus riders to be down this year.

“I’m expecting we’ll have 50 to 60% more car riders,” he said.

That’s why the department has been working closely with School Resource Officer Keith Williams to make changes at some of the schools to help improve traffic flow in the mornings and afternoons.

“We’re trying to help speed up the process so we can unload and load more cars at a time,” Fosbrink said. “We’ve done everything we can think of to try to get ready for this.”

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For questions about bus transportation for Seymour Community School Corp., call 812-522-8579.

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