A school bus safety checklist for schools and parents

Before term starts

• Every vehicle's licence, roadworthiness certificate and insurance are current, with copies the school can see.
• Each child has a seat of their own, and the seat belts work where they are fitted.
• Each vehicle carries a first-aid kit and a fire extinguisher.
• Each driver's licence and references have been checked and recorded.
• A second adult rides on routes that carry young children.
• The operator holds every child's emergency contacts and the list of adults allowed to collect them.

Every morning, before the first pickup

• The driver walks round the vehicle: tyres, lights, doors and anything loose inside.
• The driver has the day's route and knows which children are expected at each stop.

At every stop

• Each child is recorded as they board, by name, not counted as a number.
• A child who is not at the stop is marked absent there and then, not remembered later.
• Children are seated before the bus moves, and the doors are closed.

A school bus tracking app turns these into records: each child taps aboard, and the time and place are saved.

On the road

• Children stay seated, with belts on where fitted.
• The driver drives, and the escort manages the children.
• Parents are told when the bus is running late, with the new time.

At the school gate

• Children are handed to school staff, not left at the gate.
• The number arriving matches the number who boarded, and any difference is raised at once.
• The driver checks the bus is empty before leaving: every seat, every row.

In the afternoon

• Children board by class, against the list for their run.
• Each child is handed only to an adult on their list.
• If nobody is home, the child stays on the bus and the operator calls the parent. The child is never left at the stop.

If a child is unaccounted for

1. Stop and check the boarding record: where was the child last recorded?
2. Call the school and the operator at once.
3. Call the parents, using the emergency contacts.
4. Keep the record of every call and every time. You will need it.

What parents should ask the operator

• How will I know my child is on the bus, and when they arrive?
• Who may collect my child in the afternoon, and how do I change that?
• What happens if my child is not at the stop?
• Who do I call when the bus is late?

Operators in Nigeria running on Trayvar answer the first question with a WhatsApp message at pickup, on approach and at drop-off (school bus tracking in Nigeria).