ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — As children prepare to start school, the federal government's now recommending all new school buses include seatbelts, but so far, just one area school district is following that advice.
Rowan-Salisbury Schools became one of the first districts in the state to take advantage of a North Carolina program that allows districts to replace their school buses once they age out with new ones complete with seatbelts. The state, not the district, covers the cost of the buses.
"The seatbelt is just an extra layer of safety," Rowan-Salisbury Schools Transportation Director Tim Beck said.
The district started replacing its buses three years ago through a pilot program. While state law does not require seatbelts, Rowan-Salisbury Schools has already replaced almost a quarter of its fleet plus three activity buses through the program.
"A lot of folks are scared to step out on the edge and go out on the limb and be one of the only, guinea pig is a word that comes to mind, but when you're responsible for student safety to and from school, it was a no-brainer for us," Beck said.
In addition to improving safety, Beck said the district believes the seatbelts also improve discipline and driver retention. Opponents of the idea argue seatbelts make it difficult for kids to escape a bus in an emergency, like a fire, and over time, kids stop using the seatbelts.
Either way, the U.S. Department of Transportation said even without seatbelts, students are 70 times more likely to arrive at school safe when they ride the bus rather than a car.
Rowan-Salisbury Schools join Burke, Carteret, Durham, Guilford, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, New Hanover, Pamlico, Person, Rutherford, Surry, Transylvania and Washington counties taking part in the state's school bus seatbelt program, according to the state.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is now promising to look into equipping its school buses with seatbelts after we questioned the district's lack of participation in a state-funded program that covers the cost of bus replacements. CMS has more than 1,000 school buses.
"We're certainly open to that idea and whatever we can do to make the buses safer for kids," CMS Transportation Director Adam Johnson said. "If it is available for free, certainly we're going to work with the Department of Public Instruction to figure that out. If we can do it, we're certainly open to it."