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Safety Tips: In Loading Areas

District policies and procedures and federal and state regulations and guidelines aim at keeping students, employees, and the public as safe as possible. Most people are familiar with laws that require motorists and other road users to stop for school buses loading or unloading pupils. But many are not familiar with some of the practices around the schools to safeguard students.

Three main school practices safeguard students when loading and unloading from buses:

• Adequate supervision by school staff
• Proper "nose-to-tail" parking of buses
• School yard safety features such as fences and gates

An Excellent Example of Bus Safety Procedures: Utterback Middle School
School bus safety at the schools is something the Transportation Department cannot achieve alone. The support of the school staff at each site is crucial. The support of the Utterback staff in this regard is exemplary and serves as an effective model for other sites.

Utterback Middle School, TUSD's single largest routing system, has 29 buses serving the school each day. All 1100 students are busing-eligible, with no "walkers" attending.

Adequate School Staff is Essential
One main ingredient in student safety is adequate staff at the bus loading areas when students are arriving and departing school. Campus Monitor Oscar Comacho, shown above assisting in the loading of afternoon buses, is just one of several individuals available, including administrators and other staff.

Park Buses "Nose-To-Tail"
A second safeguard is the Transportation Department procedure of bus drivers parking their buses nose-to-tail. This prevents children from darting between buses into the street, and discourages one bus passing another, which is not a good practice.

Gates and Fences Provide a Safe Site Design
Proper fencing is a crucial component in site design. In conjunction with adult supervision, this prevents students from mixing with moving buses in the bus bay. Strategically placed gates, which can be locked for school security during non-busing times, help make the fence effective. The Utterback administration designed and ordered the installation of fencing several years ago, which we used for a model at other middle schools.