Kindergarten crash course

Liliana Santiago-Castro was much more nervous about learning her letters in class than she was to take her first bus ride last Wednesday.

Her mother, Ana Castro, said the trip failed to quell her own fears. The family lives just down the road from Maltby Elementary School, but often goes over how to know when and which bus to leave on, and where Santiago-Castro will get picked up.

“I am still nervous she might get on the wrong bus, or think the first stop is hers,” Castro said.

Santiago-Castro’s father and little sister were able to make the inaugural journey as well. The family of four all piled on the bus at the Monroe School District’s transportation department headquarters on West Main Street last Wednesday morning. Every seat was filled with parents and soon-to-be kindergartners.

Wendy Robertson was their tour guide, and Kathy Collins was at the wheel. Both are longtime drivers for the school district. It took about 30 minutes to travel down the long and winding road that stretched from the depot to the drop-off area behind the school. 

As rivers, farms and houses rolled by, Robertson walked everyone on board through a few important safety tips. She advised the passengers to face forward, keep their feet on the floor and back flush up against the brown backrest.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are the most regulated vehicles on the road. While they do not have seat belts, they are “designed to distribute crash forces differently,” and the “closely-spaced seats have energy-absorbing seat backs,” according to the agency.

Asher Goerz sat next to his mother, Janessa. She gently reminded her son to follow the rules when Robertson gave the signal. Asher Goerz is starting school next month. Luckily, his older sister will take the same route every day, and she already knows how it is done, Janessa Goerz said.

It wasn’t Asher Goerz’s very first time taking the bus though. He, his mother and sister all participated in the school district transportation department’s Big Yellow Bus open house last year.

“It is always fun,” Janessa Goerz said. “The bus drivers put a lot of effort into welcoming the new students.”

Along the way they breezed past cars, cows and tractors, and made sure to count each one. While passing by Lost Lake, the travelers considered renaming the landmark to Found Lake, but decided to leave it the same for the next visitors.

Awaiting the riders at the final stop was pizza, their teachers and principal. Bonnie McKerney said she wasn’t expecting to see so many people unload from the school bus. It was the third time the Big Yellow Bus event has been held, and attendance grows each year, she said.

It used to just be a there-and-back bus ride, but now lunch is served and the families can get oriented with their future classrooms, McKerney said. More than anything else the preliminary ride and time set aside to meet with the teachers tends to help the adults, she said.

Robertson agreed that the event helps alleviate some anxiety. She said it can be hard for parents to watch their little ones get on the bus for the first time, especially if the kids are crying. Almost 100 percent of the time the tears slow down once the doors close and vehicle pulls away, she said.

“This is where they make their best friends,” Robertson said. “It’s where I met my best friends — on the bus.”

For most students school starts this year on Wednesday, Sept. 6. Incoming kindergartners show up on Monday, Sept. 11.

McKerney said staggering the new arrivals gives the older grades a chance to get familiar again with the daily drills. That way routines are running smoothly by the time the younger kids come the following week. The new students are tasked with eating at lunch and playing at recess. They have to learn how to how to line up, as well as get to the bus on time, she said.

“We track our kinders pretty well, because we know it is going to be a big transition for them,” McKerney said.

Kathy Jackson is the family liaison for Maltby and Fryelands elementary schools and Hidden River Middle School. She said every year the Big Yellow Bus event gives kids the chance to practice important drills with their parents watching.

“Most routes, if not all, keep students on the door side, but occasionally they have to cross the street,” Jackson said.

Students are at the most risk on their way to school when approaching or leaving a bus, according to the NHTSA. That is why crossing procedures are so important, according to the agency.

McKerney said the kids are given assigned seats ever year. Most kindergartners are positioned at the front of the bus, she said.

Transportation department manager Joe Banach said he came up with the idea for the kindergartner orientation day a few years ago. He and the elementary school principals sat down together to figure out how to make it easier for families to feel comfortable about their kids riding the bus, and how to make it smoother for the younger students to get on the right bus and know the safety procedures.

“Our goal is to get all of these kids on buses,” Banach said. “School bus transportation is the safest transportation in the world.”

A student is 70 times more likely to get to school safely if they are in a school bus than if they are riding in a car, according to the NHTSA.

Only about 50 to 55 percent of eligible riders in Monroe take the bus to school, Banach said. If ridership rises, so does transportation funding from the state, and the department could offer more buses. It also cuts down on traffic congestion when fewer parents are on the road to dropping their children off in the morning, he said.

Banach said Monroe’s buses are equipped with GPS devices that can track where drivers are and how fast they are going. Most also have drop-down chain systems for when there is bad weather. Robertson said families can check the school district’s website to find information on late pickups: monroe.wednet.edu.

“Very rarely will we be stuck, but we will be late,” she said. “On those days we will be late, just be patient.”