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Office of Educational
Management Services
New York State
Education Department
POLICY FOR NYSED’s Response
To A Pupil Transportation Fatality
The Office of Educational Management Services issues
the following policy statement on behalf of the New York State Education Department (the Department).
Of utmost concern to the New York State Board of Regents, Commissioner
of Education, Senior Deputy Commissioner For P-16 and Deputy Commissioner For Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals
with Disabilities is the safety of the 2.3 million school children transported
to school each day. To that end the
Department, in accordance with State Education Law, has developed uniform and
comprehensive safety training programs for school bus drivers, monitors,
attendants and students. In an effort to
strengthen and expand on these training programs, the Department will
immediately respond to and assess each pupil transportation fatality.
Pupil
transportation is provided by school districts and by private transportation
companies who enter into contracts with school districts to transport
students. Pupil transportation may also
be provided by private and parochial schools.
Education Law section 3624 and 305.34 authorize and direct the Commissioner
of Education to apply school bus safety practices instruction and training
requirements to school bus drivers.
In the event of a pupil
transportation fatality the Department’s State Director of Pupil Transportation
Services and its consultant will seek assistance and coordination from the
public school district or, in the case of a private or parochial school, the
chief administrator of the school, to collect and obtain information on the
accident. Education Law Section 215
empowers the Commissioner of Education to require any reports or information
from school districts he deems necessary, through the Department’s State
Director of Pupil Transportation Services to assess a pupil transportation
fatality. In the event that a school
district or nonpublic school does not cooperate by providing the requested
information or providing it on a timely basis, Education Law Section 215
provides that the Board of Regents may suspend the charter of any of the rights
and privileges of such school district or nonpublic school, including the
withholding of State Aid.
Specifically, the following information is the type
of documentation the Department may seek as part of its assessment:
Basic
facts of the event
Location
of the event
Vehicle
action before and after the event
Vehicle
damage and other physical damage
Environmental
factors at the time of the accident
Significant
physical evidence at the scene
MV104F
report of accident, police reports, news reports
Talk
to witnesses including school bus driver
Review
all school bus driver licensure, hiring, training, testing and medical records
Passengers
on the vehicle
School
vehicle information, private carrier information
Route
information
Emergency
response
Interviews
of district staff, contractor staff
Possible
contributing factors
Investigators’
opinions as to event probability
Recommendations
for training
The Accident Investigation sub-committee of the
Commissioner’s School Bus Driver Instructor Advisory Committee will review the
information submitted and make recommendations to the Department for
enhancement of the School Bus Driver Safety Training Program. Information and documentation collected is
for the purpose of assessing, strengthening and expanding on the safety
training programs for school bus drivers, monitors, attendants and
students. No opinions will be issued in
any reports as to the cause of the accident.