The Kansas State Department of Education’s School Bus Safety Unit is seeking assistance from all Kansas school districts during the Kansas One-Day Stop Arm Violation Count initiative on Wednesday, April 17. 

Kansas is assisting the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) in coordinating a national survey to determine the prevalence of illegal passing of school buses, said Keith Dreiling, director of the School Bus Safety Unit. This data will help improve safety countermeasures at the state and national levels. 

On April 17, please have your district’s school bus operators observe and report all instances of motorists illegally passing their school buses. Please ensure drivers only report illegal passes (passes occurring while the school bus is stopped with red warning lights flashing and stop arm(s) deployed). 

As always, the primary duty of the school bus driver is to ensure the safety of students. If your drivers have questions about what qualifies as a violation, please refer to the Stop Arm Violation Survey Information and Examples. 

As has been past practice, each district, or company, will enter data compiled from their collection method directly into KSDE’s survey.

Please enter your district or company results no later than Friday, April 26. 

This Driver Report Form (optional) is provided to assist in compiling your district's numbers: https://www.ksde.org/Portals/0/School%20Bus/Illegal%20Passing%20Survey/worksheet%20for%20violations.pdf. 

Thank you for your help with this important initiative. For more information, contact the School Bus Safety Unit at (785) 296-4567.

The State Board of Education at its March and April meetings discussed school bus safety.