Parent Involvement
School bus safety starts at home. Parents can do a great deal to prepare their child(ren) to safely ride the bus to and from school each day.
A PARENT CHECKLIST
- Commit to your (K–4) child—you should accompany them every day to and from the school bus.
- Talk with your child regularly about school bus danger zones.
- Practise looking left, right, and left again with your child before crossing all intersections and driveways.
- Make sure your child can be easily seen—dress them in brightly coloured clothing and/or attach reflective material to their backpack.
- Shorten or remove any drawstrings longer than six inches when tied (make sure they are tied). Better yet, replace them with Velcro or buy clothing and backpacks without drawstrings. Children have been dragged to their death by buses when long drawstrings were snagged.
- Store everything in your child’s backpack and ensure it is securely closed. Never let your child carry anything that can be dropped near or under the bus. Ensure your child’s teacher is insisting on the same.
- Remind your child regularly that if anything falls underneath or in front of the bus, leave it—do not retrieve it. Step away from the bus and ask the school bus driver what to do first.
- Have your child leave home in plenty of time to eliminate the last-minute dashes that cause accidents, especially in inclement weather. Teach your child to tell and be responsible with time.
- Wait for your child on the same side of the street as the bus stop. Do not make your child cross the street to get to you. Children often forget pedestrian safety rules when they see their parent.
- Support school bus discipline. Teach your child their driver is the leader of the school bus safety team. Work with the school and driver if disciplinary problems are reported.
BUS STOPS
- The transportation department preassigns students to bus stops.
- Please ensure your child is familiar with the bus stop location prior to their first trip.
- The bus number is posted on both ends of the bus, front and back.
