By Steve Sears
The Randolph Township School District recently took huge steps in ensuring better student safety while riding in school buses for the 2018-19 school year and beyond. The township purchased five Bluebird Bus vehicles – four buses and one van – from Hoover Bus Sales in Mount Olive, New Jersey.
Price per bus is $105, 882; while the van cost is $73,808.
A key to the new buses is their 3-point harness system.
“The law now requires three-point belts, and this had been the recommendation of traffic safety officials,” says Jennifer Fano, superintendent of Randolph Schools.
“Buses are required to be replaced every 15 years, the four buses and van were all 14 years old. Safety is our top priority and as a district we had already planned to begin purchasing all new buses with three-point belts.”
The new buses will serve the entire district and will be used daily for different bus routes and field trips when possible.
“We order buses each year as needed,” adds Fano.
The Paramus school bus accident tragedy has certainly shed huge awareness towards school bus safety, but it’s obvious, too, that proper personnel have to be hired to drive the buses. The Randolph School district well ensures that proper individuals are the right ones behind the wheel.
“We have an extensive interview process which includes but is not limited to reviewing a candidate’s driving record, checking a driver’s abstract, a physical road test, and ongoing safety training.”
Fano closes by saying, “We are proud to do all we can to keep our students safe and take all aspects of Randolph’s bus transportation extremely seriously, from our equipment to our personnel.”
The new buses will begin service in October.