School Transportation Personnel Appreciation Week

ALBANY, NY (05/11/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York Association for Pupil Transportation wants to remind the public that more than 2.3 million children will ride a yellow school bus in New York State every day this week. NYAPT also wants to call attention to the fact that this week is commemorated by the school bus industry in New York as School Transportation Personnel Appreciation Week.

During this week, we celebrate the fine work and dedication demonstrated all school year by school bus drivers, school bus technicians, attendants and monitors, dispatchers and routers, trainers and safety specialists, as well as the supervisors and managers who pull their teams together for the children. As this week unfolds, many school district school bus programs and school bus contractors in New York State will take time to recognize these teams of dedicated professionals. Pizza lunches will be unpacked, coffee and bagel breakfasts will be shared, hot dog barbecues will be fired up. There will be moments when an accident or an injured child will make everyone stop to remember. There will be moments when an employee reaching a milestone will be rejoiced, perhaps having completed 25 or 30 years behind the wheel of a school bus. In each setting, the theme will be the same. These women and men give their lives and their best efforts to ensure the safety of our children, to ensure that 2.3 million children reach school each day to learn and are returned home each afternoon to share and laugh with their families.

As we begin this very special week, the New York Association for Pupil Transportation wants the public to know and to remember that:

? There are:

• more than 50,000 individuals licensed to drive our children to school on a yellow school bus,

• some 10,000 men and women who serve as bus attendants or monitors to assist children with special needs or disabilities and/or assist the driver in maintaining order on the bus,

• an estimated 1,500 school bus technicians or mechanics who make it there business to ensure that the school bus is road-worthy and a source of safety for our children,

• nearly 1,000 women and men who assist in the routing, dispatching and management of the school buses on a daily basis,

• some 1,200 school bus driver instructors who not only prepare drivers for their responsibilities, but also reinforce safety practices among our children, and,

• over 700 school transportation supervisors and managers who oversee their teams of professionals who all work together for the safety of our children. Here are some additional important facts to remember:

• The more than 50,000 yellow school buses on our roads are built to exacting federal standards and are further governed by expansive and thorough state-mandated standards. These buses have been designed to provide optimal protection for our children, from the flashing lights to the seat construction to the heavy gauge of steel that makes that familiar yellow school bus outline. These school buses are inspected by State Transportation Department inspectors at least twice annually. They inspect and scrutinize the school bus at over 160 locations. The process allows DOT to take a school bus off the road immediately if it does not meet rigorous standards set forth in state and federal law and regulations;

• The more than 50,000 school bus drivers in the state are first licensed in accordance with federal standards for a Commercial Drivers License as well as a School Bus endorsement. They are then required to train for and become a New York State licensed school bus driver. Those men and women are trained by School Bus Driver Instructors in accordance with Education Department laws and regulations and prepared for their behind-the-wheel requirements by the Department of Motor Vehicles. They are further tested for physical capacity, medical conditions, drug use, alcohol use and criminal backgrounds or histories. Lastly, they are required to undergo two refresher training programs every year in accordance with Education Department standards and curricula. Moreover, these drivers are subject to examination and observation by Certified Examiners of the Motor Vehicles Department to ensure their driving skills are consistent with the law and best practices;

• Yellow school buses are the clean and green mode of transportation for our children. School buses have become increasingly free of dangerous pollutants and emissions in recent years. Moreover, their use reduces the need for thousands of personal family vehicles to transport our children and thereby consume fuel and pollute the air around school buildings;

• The summary of this story is that the professionals who operate local school bus services --- whether private contractors or local school districts and BOCES --- are all doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our children and to do so in an efficient, high quality fashion. They know that the research shows the yellow school bus is the SAFEST way to transport our children to school -- 13 times safer than any other mode of transportation available. We encourage and urge parents, school leaders, civic leaders and others to visit a school transportation program, to learn more about the work that these excellent and committed professionals carry out each day, and to support efforts to upgrade and update equipment and training programs so necessary to continue New York's exemplary safety record. It's all "For the Children"! "Together We Can".

NYAPT is 600+ membership association comprised of the men and women who are responsible for the safe and efficient transportation of our school children in New York State. We are dedicated to professional development, sharing of best practices and innovations, support and technical assistance and advocacy for sound school bus safety policies and programs in our State.