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.