No booster seats being used in school van

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? :confused:
 
ADS

thepeach80

Senior Community Member
How funny, I just talked to 2 of the sped teachers at AJ's school yesterday. They had just loaded the little buses (they all have l/s belts) and were talking about a problem w/ one of kids unbuckling himself I think. I asked if they had anyone that helped them make sure they were safe and I was a tech etc. The one didn't know but laughed and asked me to check her car. I so would and will tell her again if she has time after shcool one day, I can even come back a little later after school, I can do it for. We have a DVD player in the van. ;) I would probably start by calling the school board and see if they have someone who handles this and maybe even imply you have a child who needs help and are curious about transportation. It looks like any vehicle that is required to have seatbelts is required to follow the booster law. So, any child age 8 and under needs to be in a booster, that's what, 3-4th grade?
 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member
I would probably start by calling the school board and see if they have someone who handles this and maybe even imply you have a child who needs help and are curious about transportation. It looks like any vehicle that is required to have seatbelts is required to follow the booster law. So, any child age 8 and under needs to be in a booster, that's what, 3-4th grade?

Ughhh... I really dislike most of the school board members. Our town's pop. is 500... there are 20-30 kids per grade here, so the school board members all know me and know that I don't have any kids in need of transportation, so I'd have to call anonymously and I don't know how that would work. Come to think of it, maybe it's an advantage that the new principal doesn't know me.
 

flipper68

Senior Community Member
Go to the teacher and the bus driver and express your concerns and your willingness to help (Since they have the relationship/investment with parents and kids, hopefully some education would spark some action).

Your mom could bring it up to her co-worker and/or supervisor as well - since she's the one with the direct experience that the children aren't using any form of CR.

Find out (if you don't know) who is responsible for transportation. Moving up through the special education department would also be a good idea.

It's always better to go UP the chain of command than down.

[Also IME, school board members are more 'big picture' dollars and cents. teaching staff, therapists, etc. are focused on individuals and groups of children.]
 

daycaremom2002

Active member
I would start with the van driver. I have found locally that if you give them the basic information, they are more likely to pass it on. Especially if you say "I know you are ultimately responsible for the childrens safety, but I noticed that they aren't in any sort of restraint. This worries me because, if something were to happen while I was transporting a child improperly, I would be liable and would feel terrible that everything possible wasn't done to ensure their safety." Then you can give the diver the information to pass on to his/her superiors.

Then maybe you can also pass information on to the teacher. She would be able to pass it on to the parents to make sure that they are always properly restrained.
 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member
I would start with the van driver. I have found locally that if you give them the basic information, they are more likely to pass it on. Especially if you say "I know you are ultimately responsible for the childrens safety, but I noticed that they aren't in any sort of restraint. This worries me because, if something were to happen while I was transporting a child improperly, I would be liable and would feel terrible that everything possible wasn't done to ensure their safety." Then you can give the diver the information to pass on to his/her superiors.

Then maybe you can also pass information on to the teacher. She would be able to pass it on to the parents to make sure that they are always properly restrained.

I don't personally know the driver, so maybe I'll see if my mom will talk to him for me. I could give her a brochure to give to him and the special ed teacher. She proudly bears her cps advocate bumper sticker in the school parking lot, so I think she might just be bold enough to bring up the subject with the bus driver.
 

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