School Districts Implementing Plans To Keep Everyone Safe During Bus Routes

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- The wheels on the bus will soon be going round and round in the Calhoun County School District.

Just like the classroom, district leaders have plans in place to safely take kids to and from school.

When the bus goes to pick up the kiddos, students will notice several new safety measures in place.

“Hand sanitizing stations are being set up on each bus for students to sanitize their hands getting on and off the bus,” said Stacia Parker, transportation director. “Masks will be worn, each student and the bus drivers will have to wear masks on the buses.”

Parker said students will be distanced from each other on the buses to practice social distancing.

However, kids from the same household will sit together.

“We want to do one to a seat, we’d love to skip seats but sometimes that’s not realistic, so we just have to do what the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) tells us to do and just try to do our best.”

After each route, the buses will be cleaned and sanitized.

At this time, the district is unsure on the number of students who’ll ride, but Parker is expecting it to be less than normal.

“I have heard some parents saying they are going to do the virtual school this year because they are a little scared to send their students to school just yet, so we will just have to see,” said Parker.

The transportation director said she understands how critical it is to keep students safe during this process, that’s why the school district is going above and beyond with these new measures.

“With the numbers going up, it’s a scary thing,” said Parker. “We just want to make sure that we are doing everything possible to implement these procedures, to protect our students, and to protect our bus drivers.”

Parents are encouraged to check their child’s temperature before sending them to the bus stop.

Despite being in this pandemic, Parker said most of the district’s bus drivers are returning, and they’ve even added some new ones.

The Calhoun County School District will begin classes on August 24th.