School bus emergency procedures and California Education Code Section 39831.5

LESSON PLAN OUTLINE: School Bus Safety and Emergency Procedures

THE PURPOSE OF THE LESSON

Hello and welcome, future public and private school bus drivers in the state of California! Driving a bus full of noisy and energetic children is certainly a challenging but rewarding task. The purpose of today's lesson is to inform all of you potential drivers about the different regulatory issues pertaining to driving a school bus in the state of California. We will pay particular attention to the issues that have arisen from the 1999 amendments to the California Education Code pertaining to issues of safety on the school bus and proper education of students in emergency procedures. This is of great concern today because of the higher level of nervousness and vigilance that has swept America in the wake of the attacks from September 11th. Every student knows to stop, drop, and roll, in case of a fire, but students should also be equally aware of the correct procedures to follow on their buses in case of an emergency. This is not just common sense -- it is also the law.

2) THE OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON

This lecture will began with brief overview of the legal issues pertaining school bus safety in general, with a specific focus on how they are germane your needs as school bus drivers about to obtain your school pupil activity bus licenses in California. The rest of the lecture will focus on letter D, part 4, of section 39831.5 of the Californian Education Code. This section pertains to bus safety, specifically emergency evacuation strategies. It is thus the section that is the most complex in its implementation as well as the most pertinent to your duties as bus drivers. By the end of this lecture, I hope that all of you will have a basic familiarity with the legal issues pertaining to school bus safety. I also hope on a very practical level you will all be able to inform your students of the proper way to evacuate a school bus in case of an emergency situation.

3) INTRODUCTION

By way of introduction, for all of your information California Education Code Section 39831.5 SEC. 2. Section 38048 of the Education Code was amended and renumbered in 1999 by the California legislature to affirm that "all pupils in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in public or private school" who are transported in a school bus or school pupil activity bus "must receive instruction in school bus emergency procedures and passenger safety." It first outlines the duties of the county superintendent of schools, superintendent of the school district and owner / operators of private schools. It states that these individuals must inform parents in writing of information pertaining school bus safety, such as a general list of school bus stops near each pupil's home, rules of conduct at school bus loading zones, red light crossing instructions, school bus danger zones, and walking to and from school bus stops.

5) APPLICATION

In terms of practical application of the law, this means that all of you, as school bus drivers in the state of California must take time out of your busy schedule to give your student charges instruction in how to behave during an emergency situation. This is true no matter how much the kids complain that they're late for practice, no matter silly you or they feel doing it -- it must be done. Note that this must be done "prior to departure." The ideal time to do this is at the beginning of the school year, or the beginning of the season of the particular activity or sport you are providing transportation for. This establishes you as a figure of authority and respect for the students on a daily basis as well as someone to look to for leadership during an emergency. Should the students prove resistant, remind them of the real possibilities of emergencies, especially in today's world.

The best way to provide safety instruction that the students will remember is to simulate what might happen in the case of an actual emergency. Instead of merely lecturing them, have several of the students sitting next to the emergency exits open the doors, with your supervision. It might be a good idea to do this twice, as student seating may change from day-to-day. Ideally, it would be nice to have assigned seats or assigned students to operate the emergency exits on every busload of students. However, all students, in case of these designated students' absences, should have a basic idea of how to open the emergency doors and where these doors are located. This is also true for emergency equipment, such as the fire extinguishers and the opening of emergency windows, which may also be necessary to use in case of an emergency.

Of course, bus drivers during a review of emergency operating procedures cannot simulate all potentially dangerous evacuation strategies through the windows or using bus fire extinguishers. On a very basic level, however, what can be done is this. The designated students, under supervision of the driver, can open up the emergency exit doors. These students may quickly leave the bus, and, while standing outside the bus, may help other students jump from the relatively high level of the bus onto safe ground. Again, this operation may need to be performed twice to enable the students to move speedily. The driver can make this into a 'game' -- have the students try to beat their first time, for instance. For the maximum possible efficacy in evacuation the students will need to use all emergency exits simultaneously. The driver may wish to situate him or herself at different doors during the different simulations of emergency situations, making sure that all passengers know to head for the nearest exit doors in an emergency situation, and making sure that all students feel safe and comfortable exiting the bus in an expedient fashion.

6) A TEST

Lastly, as not all emergency equipment can be demonstrated, the bus drivers should run through sample emergency situations and randomly ask students what they would do. For instance, there is a fire on the bus -- what should you do? An appropriate student response would be to say, 'reach for the fire extinguisher.' The bus driver must then prompt, what would you do? The student or another student should be able to explain not only where the fire extinguisher is on the bus, but also how to activate it school bus driver must also be mindful of the special needs of some special students. For instance, a bus with very young children or students with special needs may need extra help in evacuating the bus during emergency situations. When these students are regular passengers, the other students on the bus must know how to aid these students in utilizing the emergency exits. If students utilizing wheelchairs, for instance, join the bus route, the emergency procedures must be reviewed again with an eye on students' special needs, without making these students feel overly self-conscious. Additionally, very young children may not be able to have full use of the emergency exit doors because of strength issues, or may become more easily frightened. Thus the driver and any aids or teachers on these vehicles must assume additional responsibility in helping very young students evacuate.

One good 'test' one might want to attempt at the end of this lecture is to imagine the room as a school bus and the doors as exit doors. Although hardly a perfect parallel with a school bus, even attempting to evacuate the classroom in the most efficient and orderly method possible might be helpful in understanding the potential problems that might be incurred during an emergency situation as a school bus driver.

In conclusion, one must try to make safety education as memorable and as interesting as possible for one's passengers to remember the lessons taught. As a school bus driver, you have the ultimate responsibility to ensure the safety of your passengers. However you must also encourage your students to feel a sense of responsibility for themselves and others, both in terms of being educated in emergency procedures and knowing the correct way to come to the aid of others, should it become necessary.