Kindergarten to Grade 3 students participate in an interactive “Buster the Bus” presentation where our Buster Team, along with little Buster, our motorized, talking school bus, go over the rules of the school bus with students in a way that keeps them engaged. Buster outlines the rules listed on our Code of Conduct for School Bus Students .
Our Fall presentations are provided to set our elementary school bus riders up for success in safety when around or on the school bus.
Also in the Fall, all School District No. 83 Elementary/Middle School students are provided with bus evacuation training to prepare them in the event that a school bus incident occurs while travelling on their regular bus route or on a field trip.
Our drivers also receive training in the unlikely event of an emergency.
School Bus Incident Q & A
As a parent, you may have some questions about what would happen in the unlikely event there was an emergency.
Q: How does the bus driver get help in the event of an incident or emergency?
A: Our school buses are equipped with radios that give our school bus drivers direct communication with our dispatch staff. The driver simply radios the dispatch office answering some vital questions regarding location and initial assessment of the severity of the situation, and the dispatch office immediately contacts emergency personnel with the information they need to respond quickly. For example, if the school bus had a flat tire or something wrong with the engine, a different bus would be dispatched to pick up the students. Or, if there was a medical emergency, the dispatch office could immediately contact the ambulance service.
Q: Why am I discouraged from picking my child up from the scene of a school bus incident?
A: There are a couple of important reasons:
- Attendance lists are filled out as quickly as possible so parents can be contacted. A missing student causes extra anxiety to the situation.
- Extra parent vehicles causes further congestion at the site adding an extra level of safety concern.
- School bus drivers are not permitted to allow students to leave the scene until emergency personnel has signed off on their wellbeing.