Buses with belts concern school board
Other business
The Janesville School Board on Tuesday:
-- Engaged in lengthy discussion on the merits or setting aside money to pay for unexpected health claims, funding early-retirement benefits or paying off a liability to the Wisconsin Retirement System. Votes on those matters are likely to come at the board's June 23 meeting.
-- Heard a proposal from North American Mechanical Inc., a company that installed the heating and ventilation systems in the high school expansion projects. NAMI proposes to maintain the buildings' climate-control systems for at least a year and also to manage those systems for maximum energy savings. NAMI also offered to manage other district schools.
-- Discussed options for handling the cleaning of the expanded high schools.
JANESVILLE — Janesville will soon be the only place in Wisconsin where at least some schoolchildren will wear the same seatbelts on big yellow school buses as they do in their parents' cars.
Some small buses locally have lap belts, but this will be the first time those big buses will come equipped with three-point belts.
The Van Galder Bus Co. has ordered five of the big buses with seatbelts installed. They will be delivered in August and should be ready for the first day of school in September, said the company's general manager, Steve Van Galder.
The Janesville School Board on Tuesday night discussed proposed seatbelt rules and also a new proposed contract with Van Galder. They had concerns about both.
Board member Lori Stottler wanted more training for all involved.
"We need to be sure the students are able to exit the bus safely," Stottler said.
Stottler also asked for a report on numbers of seatbelt violations and a survey of drivers to learn how the experiment is going.
It appears the board will decide sometime next fall whether it wants to continue outfitting new buses with seatbelts. Board members seemed confused Tuesday as to what exactly they had agreed to when they voted last November to put belts in buses.
Stottler also was concerned about a contract provision she said could be interpreted as saying the district is committed to continued purchases of new buses with belts.
Stottler said her understanding was that the belts were just a pilot program, and the board would decide later whether to continue it.
Board member Tim Cullen wondered whether the district should be extending the existing contract for five years, to 2014.
Bunton said Van Galder is taking a risk in going into unchartered territory and incurring possible future liability by installing belts, something done in few places nationwide. The contract also helps with the company's cash flow, because it spreads out bus-replacement costs.
The contract with Van Galder calls for the district to reimburse Van Galder $11,000 for each of the five new buses. Business Services Director Doug Bunton told the board that was a fair price.
It was not clear which routes will get the new buses.
The district has developed proposed rules, which include:
-- The driver will not move the bus until all students are seated, buckled and have visually indicated to the driver they are buckled.
-- Middle and high school students will be assigned two to a seat. Elementary students will be assigned three to a seat, with the older students occupying the window and aisle seats.
-- If the driver needs to assist a student to buckle a belt, the driver must pull to the side of the road, turn on the flashers, turn off the bus and remove the keys before providing assistance.
The contract and the rules will come back for approval at a future board meeting, possibly June 23.
Jun 11, 2009 at 3:31 p.m.
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I'm skeptical, but willing to learn. No seatbelts & tall seatbacks will keep kids between the seats in a ROLLOVER?
Jun 11, 2009 at 12:35 p.m.
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After driving a school bus for over 10 years, I can say I am glad my children are not in Janesville! I would not let them ride a school bus with manditory seatbelts! School busses are designed to keep the children between the seats even in a roll over. To get over 60 children off a bus school bus in an emergancy is hard enough but to help children remove seatbelts as well( which yes; most know how to remove them but would be shaken from an accident) THIS IS STUPID!!! It puts the children in danger! I'd like to know what Van Galder's drivers think?
Jun 11, 2009 at 12:29 p.m.
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I hope those that use boosters in the car bring them to the bus or youll have more damage from incorect belt postioning than w/o a seat belt. that is why the bus seats are so tall to compartmentilize the kids if hit they wont "fly" around"
tj24- well said.
yes I can see a suit again the bus and driver when the kid is injured because the KID took off the belt when it should and was on when the driver checked. the "NOT MY KID" excuse!!
if the bus catches on fire theyll be burned before the " driver lets them out"!!!!
Jun 11, 2009 at 10:59 a.m.
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I'm not sure I have a good feeling one way or the other, but did find this interesting:
http://www.ncsbs.org/index.html
Jun 11, 2009 at 10:37 a.m.
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hurricane1, I was not aware that the Janesville School District had jurisdiction over motorcycle riders. Perhaps now the school board will pass a statewide helmet law.
Jun 11, 2009 at 10:08 a.m.
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hurricane1: Good point. Let's have the government stay out of all of these things. When it comes to children, the state can intervene, but when it comes to adults, they should stay out of our lives.
Jun 11, 2009 at 9:18 a.m.
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Buses should be required to have seat belts just like cars. Their use should NOT be mandatory. Seat belt use on the bus should be up to the parents to determine. Let the bus driver concentrate on driving the bus and not worry about which kids are buckled in.
For those of you parents who seem overly concerned by the one in a million chance that your child will be unable to unbuckle and will die a horrible death by drowning or burning, go ahead and tell your kid not to buckle up. HOWEVER, when your kid is the only one injured in a traffic accident you would NOT BE ALLOWED to sue the bus driver, bus compay, or the school district. It would be your decision to keep your kid unbuckled and you should not be allowed to blame anybody else.
Wake up America and take a little personal responsibility.
Jun 11, 2009 at 6:43 a.m.
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I'm puzzled and currious about something. With all of this talk about car, bus and bicycle safety, why aren't motorcyclists required to wear a helmet or a seatbelt? It seems to me they are just as dangerous as these others.
Jun 10, 2009 at 11:13 p.m.
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Whether or not the belts are a good idea, I'm wondering how much trouble Van Galder is going to have retaining drivers willing to jump through all these additional hoops!
Jun 10, 2009 at 10:06 p.m.
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dumb dumb dumb dumb, Belts on a bus? being wacked with a lunch box hurts bad enough, how would you like to get wacked with a seat belt buckle up side head?
Jun 10, 2009 at 9:55 p.m.
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nukka_70
At least you know where the children area and they are probably uninjured. They will be right there waiting for the driver or another person to help them get out,rather than stuck under a seat or being trampled on by frantic passengers. A few years back there was an accident up near Watertown with a bunch of elderly people. Many were injured or killed because they went flying or had others land on them.
Jun 10, 2009 at 9:29 p.m.
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Imagine this.....you have very young kids on the bus with a 3 point harness seatbelt and the bus is in an accident, catches on fire....you have 15-20 kids on that bus in those 3 point harness seatbelts and they cant get them un buckled...then what?! I always wondered why busses had no seatbelts but I think about that and am kinda glad they dont.
Jun 10, 2009 at 8:53 p.m.
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School buses are one of the safest forms of transportation in the U.S. and in Wisconsin. They have safety features such as side crash protection, roll over protection, and compartmental seating. Injuries and fatalities are extremely low. They do NOT NEED seat belts.
School buses are highly regulated and are mandated to be checked annually by the Wisc. State Patrol.
By state statute, municipalities can pass local ordinances that prohibit school buses from using their flashing red lights when picking up or dropping off at the roadside. Janesville happens to prohibit the use of the flashing lights within the city limits. How will that affect the board policy on drivers have to pull the bus over? Maybe the board should change that law, too.
Jun 10, 2009 at 8:31 p.m.
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I hate school buses and my kids do not ride them. On Field Trips I accompany them. That may not always be possible in the future. However, someone please tell me how much LONGER the kids will have to be on the bus now? For a driver to pull over, stop and turn off the bus and buckle (or unbuckle) kids at each stop...It's gonna be longer. More time equals more money to the driver and the company. The board should have thought THAT out...
Also what happens when the bus is on fire? Or on it's side and the driver can't reach everyone? Or the buckle clasp is inaccessible from an accident. STUPID!
No way...I'd not put them on a bus with belts either. Just does NOT make sense. A bus was designed to keep them safe as possible without belts..
Jun 10, 2009 at 7:39 p.m.
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SarahB1: yeah, it'll only take about an hour for my kid to walk 4 miles to school! not everyone has a school in their backyard
Jun 10, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
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Maybe the question should be "why is the School Board forgetting the board policies they established?" They don't remember mandating seatbelts on school buses when the time to fund them comes around. Tell me why we elected these people? Are they just not paying attention to their own motions?
Jun 10, 2009 at 6:31 p.m.
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What's to stop a student to unfasten his or her belt after the driver checks them? Although a good idea on paper I think this is another prime example of an overly-litigious society.
Jun 10, 2009 at 6:12 p.m.
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Might be quicker (and cheaper to the district) to just walk to school.
Jun 10, 2009 at 6:09 p.m.
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seat belts in busses should be a no brainer for the school board. something they are handily equiped for.
Jun 10, 2009 at 5:33 p.m.
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How many students have died in Wisconsin in bus accidents in the last 5 years? To me it is a waste of money, the buses are plenty safe. Think about it, as commision Stottler said on the TV broadcast of the meeting, "$55,00 is a teacher." Is this money worth a teacher given that a student is more likely to get hurt walking from the bus to the building? Yeah if we had all the money, but I'd rather have another teacher, or aid, or custodian. Buses are safe enough, as VanGalder said, these will be the only 5 buses in the state, its been safe enough for the last 75 years leave it alone.
Jun 10, 2009 at 5:32 p.m.
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Sounds like a whole lot of fun I thankfully missed out on. What about city buses? Kids ride on those, too.
Jun 10, 2009 at 4:49 p.m.
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The kids in school have been in seatbelts since they were born. They don't need training on how to use them. Why would we NOT want our kids in seatbelts on a bus??? What is it about a bus leaving the road, that makes it safe to have kids flying around in, unrestrained? The School District shouldn't have to pay Van Galder to install seatbelts - Wisconsin has a seatbelt law, why should they not provide them??? This is ridiculous.
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