Emergencies - Transportation

I. The transportation supervisor shall review the contents of the School Bus Driver's Handbook with each driver prior to the beginning of each school year. Each driver, in turn, is expected to follow the procedures as outlined in the handbook.

II. Emergency  Exit Drills and Verbal Review

In accordance with WAC 392-145-040 and WAC 392-145-045, the school district shall establish procedures for bus safety and emergency  exit drills.

A. One emergency evacuation drill shall be held the first six weeks of school each semester.

B. The first exit drill shall be followed by at least one verbal review of the emergency  exit drill prior to the second exit drill.

C. Only those passengers whose participation in an exit drill poses substantial difficulty to themselves or to the other passengers shall be excused and/or excluded from exit drill participation. Passengers who are excluded from such participation shall receive oral instruction in bus safety and exit drills at least three  times  during the school year.

D. Drills shall be held upon school premises and shall be timed to assure that  procedures provide for an orderly and expedient exiting from the vehicle.

III. In the event of an accident, the driver shall immediately make contact with the transportation department.  A transportation supervisor shall:

A. Determine the nature of the accident.

B. Contact emergency services if there is reason to believe that there are injuries which require immediate attention.

C. Contact the security department and the proper law enforcement agency, if appropriate.

D. Advise the assistant superintendent for business and plant, who will notify the superintendent and the area administrator.

E. Respond to the accident and assist the security department in obtaining the names of all students and witnessess. 

F. Dispatch another bus to transport the students to their designation.

G. Assist security and school principal in contacting the parent(s) or guardian(s) of any students who are injured.

IV. To facilitate the responsibilities assigned to the transportation department, the supervisor, in cooperation with the building principals, will compile a list of students, including addresses and phone numbers, who are authorized to ride each bus route.

V. Vehicle Accident Review Board

A. The Vehicle Accident Review Board's sole purpose will be to review  all accidents that involve district-owned vehicles to determine the preventability or non- preventability of the accident.

B. The security department will forward all accident reports involving district-owned vehicles to the district driver trainer. The driver trainer will have the responsibility of convening the review board and making a report of its findings.

C. The review board will be composed of the following members:

1. District driver trainer (chairperson)

2. One vehicle maintenance person.

3. Two bus drivers--to be selected by the drivers.

4. One department employee--to be selected by the assistant superintendent for business and plant or designee, and added to the board only when the employee operating the vehicle involved is not a bus driver.

D. A memo of the review board's findings will be delivered to the employee involved in the accident, to his/her supervisor, and to the personnel office for filing in the employee's folder.

E. Any disciplinary action taken will be determined by the district, not the review board.

F. Lessons learned will be shared with all drivers to help prevent future  occurrences; i.e., if a bus reacts  under  different  conditions, or if there are intersections  with poor visibility, or turn-around areas  that  are difficult  to  negotiate  for certain  models of buses, etc.

Highline School District 401
Approved by the Superintendent: December 9, 1992