stayinhomewithmy6
Senior Community Member
I live in a very small town and my mom is a sub at the school. She has been in the special ed rooms a LOT lately and every time, she has to load little kids into the school van, which takes the place of a school bus for some of these kids. She has mentioned to me repeatedly that there are no booster seats on the van and that she knows these kids are too small to be in a regular seatbelt. When she is there she buckles them in at least, but she said she gets the idea that normally they are expected to do it themselves. I am preparing to approach someone at the school about it, but I don't know who I should go to. The principal is new, so doesn't know me at all, which makes me want to wait until I get my certification in Nov. Tell me if I'm wrong, though... isn't this a big liability issue? A van is not the same as a school bus, safety-wise, but it seems like they are treating it the same way as a school-bus. Also, there is a booster seat law in WI that states up to 8 yrs/80 lbs/4'9" tall and I'm sure most of these kids do not meet those requirements, so they are breaking the law. Unfortunately the law isn't enforced around here, so I can't count on our local law enforcement to take care of the issue and obviously the parents don't care either. I really feel that the school should provide booster seats for these kids - at least backless boosters, which are SO cheap. Am I wrong? How would you approach the new principal? Or would you go to someone else... maybe the special ed teacher or head of the special ed dept first?