Are mini school buses safe?

I'm facing a dilemma here and it's cauing some friction at home. I need some advice.

The school/daycare my kids go to run a camp in the summer. It's technically considered a school, so they need to run it as a camp when the school year officially ends - I guess school board/state politics or something.

Anyway, this year, Kaylie's group will occassionally be going on field trips. The school has 2 buses. They're those mini school bus things. Other than being painted blue and white and having the name of the school all over them, they don't look any different than mini school buses to me. They use them daily during the school year to bus kids from the local elementary school back there for the after school program. I'm almost positive that at least one of the buses has shoulder belts.

I need to get more information and see the buses for myself, but I'm having issues with this. First of all, I want to make sure these things are safe before I will even consider letting my child on it. I imagine they're as safe as regular school buses?

My bigger concern however, is that the teachers drive these things. I have a problem with this. I want to know that they're good drivers. Are they used to driving buses? Can they handle driving these things with a bunch of 4-5 year olds on it? Granted, there will be several teachers on the bus, so the driver will be able to concentrate on driving while the other teachers are handling the kids. But I'm still concerned.

Then there's the whole issue of my child being off the school's premises, which is a whole other topic I'm freaked out about.

The kids have been talking about it in school and Kaylie told her teacher she wouldn't be allowed to go on field trips and asked her if she would have to stay in school with the babies I never told Kaylie she couldn't go - we never even discussed it. Apparently, she asked the teacher if there were car seats on the bus and when the answer was no, she automatically assumed she wouldn't be allowed on the bus. What have I done to my kid

So what would you do? I don't want K to be left out, but I have some real concerns about a potentially non-experienced bud driver transporting my kid.

Am I totally over-reacting? DH thinks I'm nuts and asked if he should start constructing a glass bubble

Amy

Ok i'll try to RE: b/c i feel for you, i drive into town (3.5 miles each way) 3 times a day to keep my kids OFF the busses, big, small, ect.
First small busses are not as safe a big busses and i think they HAVE to have a restraint belts, there for a car seat could be put on them for a child. and it's extremaly recomended if not maditory (can't member with out looking throuhg my CPS tech book) that kids under 4 are required to or just advised to be in a 5 point restrant system on a bus of any size. Abby's school has 5 pt vest that they use on the busses for the kids but i still don't let her ride just b/c one driver to 12-15 kids doesn't seem right to me even if they are in a 5pt restrant. She is aloud to go on the feild trips with the class b/c there is a drive, 2 teachers, and usally 1-3 parents to help with the kids, and 90% of the trips i go along on, or drive (to take allie w/) so abby rides with me too.
If a teacher doesn't have a CDL i'm thinking they can't drive a bus, they can't at our school systerm any ways (public or private or head start). And there is NO way i would like any of my child or maybe myself for that matter ride a bus with a drive with out a CDL.
If the bus had a seat belt i see NO reason she can't have a car seat ont he bus.... i would ask.

amy919 said:

My bigger concern however, is that the teachers drive these things. I have a problem with this. I want to know that they're good drivers. Are they used to driving buses? Can they handle driving these things with a bunch of 4-5 year olds on it? Granted, there will be several teachers on the bus, so the driver will be able to concentrate on driving while the other teachers are handling the kids. But I'm still concerned.

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At the daycare/preschool where I used to work, the teachers who drove the mini-school-buses had to have a Commercial Driver's License (CDL). They were specially trained to drive those buses.

At the private school where I used to work, we could only drive up to 13 people (granted, these were middle and high-schoolers) with a regular driver's license. If we had to drive more students than that, we had to have a CDL.

Well, I guess the first question: Is it actually a "school bus" or just a bus. If its a school bus, the driver will need a special school bus liscence, and if its just a bus, the driver should still need a higher level of liscence. With that being the case, the driver should be qualified and safe enough to drive the bus. If it's got seat belts, you should be able to put the carseat on it. If they give you any grief about it, the words "liability" and "lawsuit" will scare the school board into letting you put the seat on. Those seem to be our school boards biggest fears lately, so they work wonders in negotiation. Other than that I wouldn't worry about it too much. By the way next time your DH brings up "the glass bubble", just tell him that it would be too unsafe to be in .

This is a tough decision. If they have seatbelts and will let you install a seat, then do it. Otherwise, I think a minibus is safer than a car. It's more visible, usually driven more slowly, etc. How far will the trips be? If it's not a long trip, I'd be okay with it. I know many people on here will probably disagree with what I'm saying, but that's just my opinion

Actually, it's probably quite safe, because it's probably reinforced to the same standards as regular school buses. Federal law prohibits the use of 15 passenger vans for transporting children to and from school, and some states prohibit their use for children entirely. So lots of organizations are buying buses like the ones you describe. Our child care center owns a regular small yellow school bus for use on field trips, and just bought one like the one you described, for transporting children around for summer camp activities. I would bet that the van has lap belts at least, though that means that you can't use boosters on it. (FWIW, I have let my very tall 4 y.o. go on a school bus in just a lapbelt.)

I *would* however, check out the driver situation very thoroughly.

Actually, to my knowledge the small buses do not have the same standards as the large buses.

skaterbabscpst said:

Actually, to my knowledge the small buses do not have the same standards as the large buses.

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I think it does depend on the bus, and perhaps how new it is. I have been having conversations with the director of our child care center about this. They just purchased a new small bus that does meet those standards. I'll see if I can find some links.