Seeing those yellow school buses on the roadways of Scotland County shouldn’t be something new for motorists. After all, they’ve been on the road even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, however, for the first time since March 2020, they are carrying precious cargo: children.
For the better part of a year, school buses have been weaving their way through neighborhoods delivering meals to students who have been getting their learning virtually. It’s been a daunting task for bus drivers and cafeteria employees, but they have done a top-notch job.
With the reopening of schools for in-person learning this week — for kindergarten through the fifth grade — those bus drivers and cafeteria staff will take on a double-sided challenge. Not only will they be handling the same meal deliveries, but they will also have students going to school as part of a hybrid setup.
All of that is to say … motorists must be aware of how to proceed as they share the road with school buses.
One important point as you approach a stopped bus is that the children getting on and off also haven’t done this in a while. They may be a little rusty when it comes to proper conduct and safety rules. They also may be a little confused, and hence, inattentive.
There will also soon be teenage drivers back on the road, when grades six through 13 return to classes on Monday.
So being alert is paramount.
Part of the confusion, if there is any, will be a product of the children being presented with a new educational reality — the move from online classes to in-person learning — wrapped in a hybrid schedule that has each student attending class only two days a week and long-distance learning three days a week.
Even the best of us might wake up those first few days uncertain if it’s a go-to-school day or a stay-at-home day.
The point is there’s going to be a period of adjustment for all of us. So, drive carefully, and be mindful of the buses and the children getting on and off of them.
The last thing we need are reports of injuries or worse with incidents involving a school bus.
We hope the trend of reopening schools will continue so that the students and teachers can soon return to a more familiar schedule. But for now, we must all be aware that children will be getting on and off school buses again — and it’s up to all of us as motorists to be cautious.
So put the cellphone down, turn the radio down a bit and stay watchful for children on the sides of streets and those stopped school buses.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s not about how good of a driver you are. It’s about the 5 seconds you take your eyes off the road. Don’t risk it.”