Delaware News

Secretary Bunting encourages families, children to ‘Love the Bus’

Department of Education | Education | Governor John Carney | News | Office of the Governor | Date Posted: Tuesday, February 13, 2018


DE Department of Education logo

Secretary of Education honors school bus drivers and aides

Families, students and educators are celebrating the bus drivers and bus aides in Delaware who take more than 121,000 students safely to schools each day as part of the 11th annual national Love the Bus program this month.

Governor John Carney issued a proclamation recognizing school bus drivers and aides for their contributions to safe school transportation. Additionally, Secretary of Education Susan Bunting and Superintendent Dan Shelton greeted and thanked school bus drivers and aides after they dropped off students at William Henry Middle School in the Capital School District this morning.

The Love the Bus program, founded in 2007 and coordinated by the American School Bus Council (ASBC), is celebrated on Valentine’s Day, and throughout February, in school communities across the country as a way to raise awareness and appreciation for the hundreds of thousands of school bus drivers who safely transport more than 25 million school children to and from school each day. It is also an opportunity for families and children to learn more about the safety and environmental benefits of school bus transportation. Delawareans are encouraged to share their love online with the hashtag #DElovesthebus.

“The bus drivers and aides who safely transport Delaware’s students to school and back each day have challenging jobs,” Bunting said. “Love the Bus is a great opportunity to thank those who care for our children every day.”

To help celebrate Love the Bus, families, teachers and children are encouraged to visit the program’s Web site, http://www.americanschoolbuscouncil.org to share stories about their favorite bus drivers. Educators also may log on to the site to download an educator’s toolkit, which provides details on incorporating Love The Bus into their lesson plans and offers best practices for communicating about pupil transportation.

Bus drivers receive specialized classroom and behind-the-wheel training in driving a school bus, student loading/unloading procedures, student evacuation, student behavior and security management. All school bus drivers also are required to participate in pre-employment, random and post-accident drug and alcohol testing, frequent driving record checks, and pass periodic medical exams to ensure they are physically qualified. Bus aides receive specialized training to care for those students with special needs.

In addition to the qualified drivers and aides, school buses are, by far, the safest vehicles on the road. Students are about 70 times more likely to get to school safely if they take the school bus versus traveling by car, according to American School Bus Council statistics.

Find photos from today’s event here.

 

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

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Secretary Bunting encourages families, children to ‘Love the Bus’

Department of Education | Education | Governor John Carney | News | Office of the Governor | Date Posted: Tuesday, February 13, 2018


DE Department of Education logo

Secretary of Education honors school bus drivers and aides

Families, students and educators are celebrating the bus drivers and bus aides in Delaware who take more than 121,000 students safely to schools each day as part of the 11th annual national Love the Bus program this month.

Governor John Carney issued a proclamation recognizing school bus drivers and aides for their contributions to safe school transportation. Additionally, Secretary of Education Susan Bunting and Superintendent Dan Shelton greeted and thanked school bus drivers and aides after they dropped off students at William Henry Middle School in the Capital School District this morning.

The Love the Bus program, founded in 2007 and coordinated by the American School Bus Council (ASBC), is celebrated on Valentine’s Day, and throughout February, in school communities across the country as a way to raise awareness and appreciation for the hundreds of thousands of school bus drivers who safely transport more than 25 million school children to and from school each day. It is also an opportunity for families and children to learn more about the safety and environmental benefits of school bus transportation. Delawareans are encouraged to share their love online with the hashtag #DElovesthebus.

“The bus drivers and aides who safely transport Delaware’s students to school and back each day have challenging jobs,” Bunting said. “Love the Bus is a great opportunity to thank those who care for our children every day.”

To help celebrate Love the Bus, families, teachers and children are encouraged to visit the program’s Web site, http://www.americanschoolbuscouncil.org to share stories about their favorite bus drivers. Educators also may log on to the site to download an educator’s toolkit, which provides details on incorporating Love The Bus into their lesson plans and offers best practices for communicating about pupil transportation.

Bus drivers receive specialized classroom and behind-the-wheel training in driving a school bus, student loading/unloading procedures, student evacuation, student behavior and security management. All school bus drivers also are required to participate in pre-employment, random and post-accident drug and alcohol testing, frequent driving record checks, and pass periodic medical exams to ensure they are physically qualified. Bus aides receive specialized training to care for those students with special needs.

In addition to the qualified drivers and aides, school buses are, by far, the safest vehicles on the road. Students are about 70 times more likely to get to school safely if they take the school bus versus traveling by car, according to American School Bus Council statistics.

Find photos from today’s event here.

 

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

image_printPrint

Related Topics:  , , , , ,


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.