Bernie Willis (R-Springfield), whose home is about two miles from the site of the crash, has led the charge. House Bill 279 would require buses to have a seatbelt for each individual on board. It's led to renewed efforts to pass school bus safety policies at the Statehouse, too. That Clark County crash, in the western Ohio community of Lawrenceville, fatally ejected 11-year-old Aiden Clark from a bright-yellow school bus and seriously injured more than 20 others. “We would be remiss if we didn't address the issue of seatbelts in the report,” Wilson said. “Whatever we do with our recommendations has to be practical, it has to be able to be implemented, and it has to truly keep kids safer,” Wilson said in the interview after the meeting.īut one of the biggest questions in front of them has been tricky. Now, it will put them together in a proper report. “Because if nothing else, I will be bugging you to death.”ĭepartment of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson said coming off the meetings, the agency already had a rolling list of recommendations. “I truly believe from this working group, something will be done,” Russell said during the meeting. Russell talked with more than 1,000 bus drivers, she said, and asked them about everything from certifications to training to wages. The nearly four-hour conversation focused on reunification preparedness following crises, like those crashes in Clark and Licking counties, and the mental health ramifications of traumatic incidents.ĭavida Russell-a Cleveland Heights councilmember, veteran school bus driver and member of the committee-also shared the results of surveys she conducted statewide with bus drivers. Mike DeWine to assess school bus safety met for its sixth, and likely final, time Friday morning-and is set to release its findings in January, as schools get back from winter break. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.A state task force assembled by Gov. Palmer, the school board association's transportation expert, said he hasn't heard of the request for ONG personnel to become drivers being made by schools to DeWine.Īs many as 250 National Guard personnel are being activated to drive school vans in Massachusetts.Ĭopyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. So it’s certainly not out of the consideration that that would be a possibility," DeWine said. “They’ve done all kinds of things, from give tests, give shots, work at food banks. He also noted the Ohio National Guard has been deployed in different ways throughout the pandemic. Mike DeWine said he’s encouraging schools to reach out and tell the state what they need. On a given day, that could be nearly 1,900 drivers. The bus driver shortage is so bad in some Ohio school districts that drivers are being asked to do multiple routes, and districts are drafting other school workers to drive or even considering closing down buildings.īut another potential solution to help drive a million miles of bus routes each day in Ohio may be a possibility.ĭoug Palmer, the transportation expert for the Ohio School Boards Association, estimates Ohio’s more than 600 school districts are between 5% and 12% short the drivers they need, because of retirements, illness and other absences.
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