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My 4 year old triplets are in a 4K program run by our local public school district for kids who are not on track to be kindergarten-ready by next fall. Bus services are provided for the children. They use a regular full-size school bus. The children are not restrained in any way (seatbelts, carseats, etc.).
All of my kids have some core-muscle strength issues, but especially my son. This means that he often falls out of chairs. I know that sounds kind of weird, but even just sitting at the kitchen table, he will commonly just fall on the floor. I expressed my concern about the schoolbus seating at the beginning of the year, but was assured that they had never had an issue, there was another adult on the route to watch the kids in addition to the driver, buses are safer than cars and vans, etc.
As I should have predicted would happen eventually, yesterday James fell out of the school bus seat. Apparently the driver went down a hill and turned, and he lost his balance. Fell directly on his head. He was not seriously injured - they got medical attention and all that and he was OK. But it is only a matter of time before this happens again, so something has to change, right?
I talked to the transportation people this morning, and told them that in many school districts, children in public preschool programs are in carseats or seatbelts. The director told me that he would discuss it with his supervisor and get back to me.
What should I be asking for? What is realistic for a public school system to provide, balancing cost concerns with safety?
All of my kids have some core-muscle strength issues, but especially my son. This means that he often falls out of chairs. I know that sounds kind of weird, but even just sitting at the kitchen table, he will commonly just fall on the floor. I expressed my concern about the schoolbus seating at the beginning of the year, but was assured that they had never had an issue, there was another adult on the route to watch the kids in addition to the driver, buses are safer than cars and vans, etc.
As I should have predicted would happen eventually, yesterday James fell out of the school bus seat. Apparently the driver went down a hill and turned, and he lost his balance. Fell directly on his head. He was not seriously injured - they got medical attention and all that and he was OK. But it is only a matter of time before this happens again, so something has to change, right?
I talked to the transportation people this morning, and told them that in many school districts, children in public preschool programs are in carseats or seatbelts. The director told me that he would discuss it with his supervisor and get back to me.
What should I be asking for? What is realistic for a public school system to provide, balancing cost concerns with safety?