USD 210 Hugoton Bus Drivers pictured left to right are Jackie Anderson, Christy Esarey, Barb Trujillo, bus foreman John Moser, Dave Burrows, Judy Zordel and Jerry Guerrero. Not pictured are Jack Hickey, Jay Witt, Greg O’Loughlin and Frankie Rotolo. These fine ladies and gentlemen carry our precious children safely everyday and they are very much appreciated.
School bus transportation employees play an important role in the safety of Kansas children.
There were 4,043 bus drivers during the 2019-2020 school year who transported 223,705 Kansas students more than 60.5 million miles. In order to honor their dedication and expertise, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly designated October 21 as School Transportation Day.
The day coincides with National School Bus Safety Week, which is October 19-23. National School Bus Safety Week takes place the third full week of October each year. It is designed to promote school bus safety.
The theme for this year’s campaign is “Red Lights Mean STOP!”
Kansas hosts a yearly school bus safety poster contest. The 2020 winners were Aevan Huddleston, a second-grade student at Augusta School District and Emma Lightner, who was an eighth-grade student at Garden City.
The Kansas State Department of Education in 2019 kicked off the Stop on Red, Kids Ahead school bus safety campaign to help bring awareness to the Kansas school bus stop arm law.
Kansas law requires all motorists to stop when approaching or overtaking a stopped school bus displaying its flashing red lights and stop arm. Motorists are to remain stopped until the bus is no longer displaying its flashing red lights and stop arm. Violation of the law is punishable by a fine and court costs in excess of $420.
In April 2019, Kansas bus drivers reported 1,040 stop arm violations. The data was collected during the Kansas One-Day Stop Arm Violation Count. There were 220 districts and 3,300 buses that participated in the April 2019 one-day survey.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure the safety of our students,” said Keith Dreiling, director of KSDE’s School Bus Safety Unit. “School buses are safe, but we know that student passengers are most vulnerable outside of the bus – that’s why it’s so important for everyone to obey the stop arm law. School bus drivers play an important role in the safety of our students, too. I want to invite the state of Kansas to help celebrate the men and women who sit behind the wheel of our buses and dedicate their time and talent to keep our students safe.”
