CAMDEN-WYOMING, De. - The Caesar Rodney School District is focusing on safety as the new school year approaches, with bus drivers undergoing specialized training today. The Delaware Safety Council provided the training, emphasizing the importance of crossing railroads safely.
Guy Vanderlek with the Delaware Safety Council cited two serious school bus incidents involving railroads in the past year. “We had the crash in Middletown at the frog crossing. Then we had a school bus in Kirkwood go beyond the safety containment zone and was stopped literally three feet from the tracks and had the crossing arm come down on the vehicle,” Vanderlek said.
Susan Shelor, Caesar Rodney’s Transportation Supervisor, explained that drivers also learned other important safety measures. “You’ve got 72 students behind a bus driver on a bus. They all can react differently; some of them might have health needs that others don’t, it varies,” Shelor said.
Hali Flores with the Caesar Rodney School District noted that this year’s training was more personal than in the past. “We wanted to bring people in to help train us on things. You know, we don’t talk about rail safety much, and that is a big issue. So we had more people come in and physically train us this year,” Flores said.
The school district says that Delaware state law requires school bus drivers to have four hours of training, and this year’s focus was on ensuring that drivers make the right choices to keep their students safe.
The first day of school for students in the Caesar Rodney School District is set for Tuesday, September 3rd.