Districts beef up bus safety, training ahead of school year

Safety on the roads is top of mind for parents and school leaders as thousands of students are expected to use school buses in Michigan to get to class.

On Thursday, about a dozen drivers gathered in the bus garage of Novi Community Schools to undergo extra safety training, including using a virtual simulator.

"It’s good to experience disaster in virtual land versus the real thing,” said driver Dana Schavey.

The simulator, provided to districts for free by the Michigan Trucking Association Center for Decision Driving (MCDD) teaches defensive-driving techniques.

“When you hand your kid over to us just know that we take it seriously and they will be safe with us,” said Cindy Valenti, Director of Transportation.

She estimates the district transports 4,000 kids daily during the school year.

Drivers go through more than 30 hours of training to prepare for weather, changing traffic patterns, and all kinds of distractions on and off the bus.

It's why this year, Huron Valley Schools is adopting new technology to help.

“A lot of our time is spent during runs answering phones, talking to parents, finding out where the bus is,” said Belinda Tallent, Supervisor of Transportation.

The app uses real-time location tracking and will help the district with communication and to cut down on distractions on the road. They like many districts relied on paper and various other systems to manage drivers and students.

"It has allowed us to become much safer, much more efficient, and tighten things up," said Tallent.

Last year the district had to go down to driving on half their students because of staffing and driver shortages. Tallent says the software should help with that and save them thousands.

"We project that it will," said Tallent. "Although we are just starting with it."

The district says it will able to produce the same amount of communication with less staff in office dispatching and communicating.

Parents will eventually be able to download an app where they will be able to see their students as well.

Studies have shown the school bus is the safest way to get to school over biking, walking, and driving in a car.