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School board OKs school bus belts

JANESVILLE — Some but not all Janesville schoolchildren will be required to buckle up when they ride buses to school or games next fall.

The school board voted Tuesday night to have seat belts installed on up to five new school buses in the coming year.

Federal rules require belts on buses weighing less than 10,000 pounds but not on larger buses, officials said. Tuesday’s action applies to large buses.

The Van Galder Bus Co. operates 58 buses under contract with the district, transporting about 1,350 students to and from school each day, Steve Van Galder told the board. Thirty-two of those are large buses.

The buses also are used for student and sports-team trips outside the district.

The board discussed requiring belts on all new buses until the entire fleet is converted. But members backed away from that idea over the course of a lengthy discussion.

The cost of including the three-point belts on new buses was estimated at $11,000 per bus, for a maximum expenditure of $55,000.

The spending comes at a time when the board is being told it will have to make cuts to balance its 2009-10 budget.

The board voted to take the money from its fund balance, a cushion fund used for a variety of purposes. The board has used the fund to lower taxes and avoid borrowing and for purchases that don’t recur each year.

Because the buses belong to the company, the district will have to renegotiate its contract with Van Galder, officials indicated. The cost of the belts would be built into the contract price.

Cost is one reason why Greg Ardrey voted against the belts.

Ardrey noted that the board also will be spending to upgrade the district computer system next year.

Ardrey said he didn’t have enough information to make a decision.

“I’m not even sure our contractor supports it,” Ardrey said.

Van Galder did not urge the board to vote one way or the other. Neither did he seem enthusiastic about seat belts.

Van Galder said he’s not sure how a driver could assure that a student sitting at the back of a bus wouldn’t unbuckle a belt sometime during the trip.

The driver and the school administration will be responsible for enforcing the rule that all children wear their belts, just as they enforce other bus rules, according to a district memo.

Some board members were concerned that the belts installed now would have to be modified later if the federal government comes up with new rules.

Van Galder said the district should pay if the government requires any retrofitting.

But Tim Cullen, who originated the idea, said the government’s new rules, now close to final approval, leave the question of seat belts up to local governments, and any change to those rules is unlikely.

The board’s action has no affect on the Janesville Transit System buses, which also transport students to school.

The number of buses to be outfitted with belts depends on the number of buses the company decides to replace next year.

Van Galder said he normally orders new buses in January and takes delivery in August.

The board did not commit to adding belts to new buses in succeeding years, although at least some board members are interested in converting the entire fleet.

Officials have said they are not aware of any Wisconsin school district that requires seat belts on large buses. Van Galder said only four states require them.

In other business

In other business Tuesday, the Janesville School Board:

-- Discussed a parent complaint that a school bus trip from a rural subdivision were too lengthy, resulting in a 92-hour day for some Edison Middle School students. The only apparent solution was to add a new bus route, but no board member seemed willing to commit to the expense.

-- Voted 8-1 to approve a contract with the Beloit, Beloit Turner and Clinton school districts for the new co-op girls hockey team, the Rock County Fury. Peter Severson was the “no” vote. Cost was expected to be around $16,000 this year.

-- Voted 8-1 to approve an audit of central-office staffing at a cost not to exceed $5,735. Kevin Murray voted “no.” Strategic HR Solutions of Verona will conduct the audit, which is aimed at helping the board make decisions about cutting positions if it needs to in next year’s budget. Board member Tim Cullen noted that the district studies its teacher-staffing needs each year, but the central-office staff hasn’t been studied since 1996.

-- Heard Superintendent Tom Evert say, in conjunction with the item above: “We anticipate there will be reductions in staffing for the 2009-10 school year.”

-- Discussed naming rights to newly built facilities at Craig and Parker high schools. Donors would have to pay at least half the cost of the facilities, such as the new gymnasiums, in order to qualify for naming rights.

-- Provided, for the first time, designated seats for members of two district unions and the Janesville Area Council-PTA at the board meeting. No one sat in the union seats.