For many of our students, the school bus is the first contact they have with our school system each day. Indeed, the familiar big yellow school bus is a welcome, traditional image that provides a vital service for many families as it brings to our campuses our reason for existence: our students.

More than 11,000 of our students travel in buses each school day, as our drivers log over 12,000 miles in our buses each day in Coweta County. In fact, school bus transportation is the single largest mass transit system in our country today, with 22.5 million students travelling more than 4.3 billion miles each year. Each morning, locally, 152 buses roll into the streets and roads of our community to bring our students to school.

School buses are absolutely the safest method of transportation to and from school, four times safer, in fact, than transportation by passenger car. Federal regulations control how buses are manufactured, the capacity of each, and what safety features must be included, such as flashing lights, stop signal arms, and bumper arms. State law requires that to be licensed, our bus drivers must meet rigid requirements. To begin with, they undergo extensive training before getting behind the wheel, and they are reevaluated within a ten-week period. Training is ongoing, and drivers responsible for transporting medically fragile children or those with handicapping conditions receive additional training in the care and management of these children.

Our state also requires that motorists approaching a school bus must come to a complete stop and remain stopped whenever the bus is stopped with the stop signal arm extended to board or discharge passengers. To further ensure students' safety, we go beyond the state's requirement of requiring that students walk no more than one-half (0.5) mile to their bus stop by reducing this required distance to 0.2-mile. In addition, we conduct bus evacuation drills to ensure that our students know how to respond in an emergency.

Along another consideration, you might not think of school buses as an educational tool, but they are. Students arrive safely at school, on time, and ready to begin their educational day. Busing also enables teachers to expand their classrooms by taking their students on approved field trips. Busing also allows our students to compete in athletic, academic, and fine arts events away from their home campuses.

Georgia does not require schools to provide transportation to students other than those with disabilities or special medical conditions; therefore, riding the bus is a privilege. We are glad to provide this service, but we expect all students to obey the rules for their safety and the safety of others. We encourage all parents to support and reinforce these rules. We also ask motorists to be especially cognizant of our buses and students during boarding and unloading times each day. Watch for students as you drive through residential areas, and please observe all speed limit laws and stop signs.

We are proud of our transportation department. Our mechanics, bus drivers and office staff do their best every day to see that each child is transported to and from school with the same care and consideration that you, the parent, would provide. Any suggestions you may have for improving our service would be appreciated. You can call Pete Thompson, Transportation Director at 770-254-2820.