SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — As another day at Shenandoah Valley Junior Senior High School ends, students begin to fill the empty seats on the school bus.
According to Superintendent Brian Waite, half of his school district commutes to school in a school bus.
"When our students are in buses getting to and from school, commuters should adhere to and respect the signs that are out for them to stop when the red lights flash," he said.
The concept may seem like common sense, but it is a rule some drivers are neglecting. PennDOT reports more than 700 drivers are ticketed for passing a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing.
"Commuters are passing when they are not supposed to and are going through the red lights when they're not supposed to," added Waite.
Shenandoah Valley is not the only district getting phone calls and reports about drivers neglecting students' safety. Pottsville Area School District says the beginning of the school year tends to be the time when they get the fewest reports about drivers endangering students as they get on and off the bus.
"As the year goes on, sometimes drivers are less cautious. In the beginning of the year, we have less phone calls, but as the year goes on, there are more calls regarding people not stopping for school buses," explained Pottsville Area Superintendent Sarah Yoder.
Using their bus security surveillance, Shenandoah Valley has taken legal action to hold drivers accountable.
" It could be loss of license, a fine that goes along with that," Waite said.
But it's still not enough to keep their students safe. It's become so much of a safety problem in Pottsville that Yoder and her administration now have a bus designated for students to use if crossing Market Street.
"We worked with PennDOT to identify Market Street as a hazardous route, so students no longer need to cross Route 209," she said.
Both superintendents hope drivers think twice before speeding by a stopped school bus in their school districts and throughout the Commonwealth.
"Remember it's not just the first week of school, first day of school, it's throughout the year," Waite said.
According to last year's study by PennDOT, almost 2,800 people were involved in school bus crashes. Both superintendents hope that number will decrease this school year so children can safely return to school the next day.
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