Rossville Schools continue to put student safety at the forefront of our operations. Several procedures and practices have been implemented at the school building and on campus to maintain a safe learning environment. School personnel recognize that the safety of students does not begin at the school house gate. Hundreds of children board a school bus each morning for a safe trip to school. Rossville is being proactive to find measures to increase student safety with school bus travel.
The most dangerous time for a child in connection with being transported on a school bus is the loading and unloading procedure. The legislators recognized the problem with stop arm violations and have strengthen the laws by increasing penalties and law enforcement agencies have increased their patrols. Rossville Schools has worked to make the public aware of the issue by information in newsletters and posting on the school sign. The District has added stop arm cameras on all school buses in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles passing school buses through enforcement. Rossville Consolidated School District Police Department Chief of Police, follows school buses as an extra preventative measure. The result has been a slight decrease in the number of people passing the stopped school bus.
The comment, “I didn’t see the bus” is unacceptable. Therefore, Rossville Schools took the next step and is piloting an illuminated school bus sign to improve awareness and the visibility of the school bus. The first step to this process is to outfit a bus with a fully illuminated school bus sign above the windshield and the rear windows to make drivers aware of the school bus ahead. This sign can be seen from over 1,000 feet away and is visible from 1800 and is readable from over 300 feet away. The hope is the extra added illuminated school bus sign will make the school bus even more visible. The District recognizes that no matter what we do, it is the responsibility of the traveling public to be aware of school buses and to stop when the stop arm is out.
The next step for Rossville Schools is to pilot a fully illuminated stop sign. It is unfathomable that drivers still say that they didn’t see the bus. However, it is the Districts hope that coupled with the red strobing lights, wig wag headlights, miles of reflective tape, and now illuminated signage more people will stop for school buses and let children load and unload safely.