Clark County Public Schools transports about 3,500 students daily during the school year, averaging nearly 4,114 miles per day.

There are a little more than 60 buses in the fleet covering about 49 routes. Some buses will transport up to 60 students. And in all, the CCPS transportation department has about 103 employees, including drivers, office staff and mechanics.

Those are the numbers that make up CCPS transportation services, Transportation Supervisor Danny Fisher said.

But there is one other number that haunts him: the number of close calls when it comes to motorists speeding by a stopped bus. And those close calls happen almost daily during the school year. Fisher said it wouldn’t be atypical for three bus drivers to come into his office on the same day to relay another close call.

It seems like the number of close calls are continuing to rise, he said, with drivers distracted by their devices or worse, in too much of a hurry to consider: it’s not just a stop sign, it’s a child’s life.

Illegal passing

According to KRS 189.370, passing a stopped school or church bus is prohibited.

“If any school or church bus used in the transportation of children is stopped upon a highway for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers, with the stop arm and signal lights activated, the operator of a vehicle approaching from any direction shall bring his vehicle to a stop and shall not proceed until the bus has completed receiving or discharging passengers and has been put into motion,” the law states.

The stop requirement does not apply to vehicles approaching a stopped bus from the opposite direction upon a highway of four or more lanes, which Fisher said would never happen in Winchester.

“What happens is a lot of people on Lexington Avenue think the turning lane in the middle gives them a divider, so they think you would let them go ahead and continue,” Fisher said. “But that’s still a violation because it’s not a divided highway.”

If any vehicle is witnessed to be in violation and the identity of the operator is not otherwise apparent, it shall be a rebuttable presumption that the person in whose name the vehicle is registered or leased was the operator of the car at the time of the alleged violation and is subject to the penalties, the law states.

Observers on 2,667 Kentucky school buses recorded 728 illegal passes during this year’s annual national count of unlawful school bus passes.

Nationally, observers recorded 83,944 illegal passes of 108,623 buses in 38 states during the survey, which is coordinated by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services.

Fisher said many of the illegal passing violations in Winchester happen on Lexington Avenue, which prompted CCPS to install an additional camera on the bus that takes that route, though illegal passing happens a lot elsewhere. Motorists speed by stopped buses in neighborhoods, downtown and more.

While Clark County hasn’t had any incidents, the number of close calls is still distressing, Fisher said.

Fisher recalled one particularly stressful encounter.

“The bus was discharging students at the Phoenix Academy, and a vehicle chose to come around the right side where the student steps off the bus,” Fisher said. “And the driver luckily grabbed the students collar before he stepped off because he saw the car coming. And that was so close. It was within five feet of hitting a child.”

Two buses have the advanced camera system that captures the license plate number of violators. But Fisher said illegal passing is getting to the point where he plans to take the issue up with the Board of Education, hoping to install a camera system on the entire fleet.

“We had the county attorney in here recently in a talk with our drivers,” Fisher said. “I think he’s with us, on board about stepping up and prosecuting.”

Fisher said the district also tries to ensure its drivers don’t rush on their routes.

“It’s like getting an orchestra together,” Fisher said. “When everybody is playing the same tune, it’s a beautiful thing. When someone’s off-key, it’s a horrible thing.”

Jim Roarx, a bus driver for CCPS, said nearly every bus driver experiences close calls.

“I stopped to pick up a child, a first-grader, whose father was standing in the driveway holding his hand and a car ran between the child and me and the father,” Roarx said. “The child was going to jump out and run to the bus when his father grabbed him, and otherwise we would have had a very bad situation. This car was not going slow. And it was dark. I couldn’t get any details of the person in the car, but the light was on, and I could see her phone with her looking down, looking for something. I laid on the horn. And when she went past, she realized and started to brake, but it was too late.”

The proper procedure

When the bus comes to a stop, the driver tries to get the students to be silent, so they can look and listen for traffic.

The driver should always tap the brakes a couple of times, two or three times, Fisher said, to warn other motorists the bus is about to stop.

Then, the driver will switch the yellow flashing lights on as they prepare to make a full stop.

Motorists behind the bus should slow down accordingly.

According to Kentucky law, the driver should turn the warning signals on about 150 to 200 feet before they entirely stop.

When the bus comes to a complete stop, drivers activate the extended stop signs and prepare to let students off the bus.

Students should walk in front of the bus, and once the driver sees the student is safe, they will move on to the next stop.

Drivers behind the bus should remain entirely stopped until the bus retracts its extended stop signs and continues on its route.

Other forms of close calls

Fisher said there’s another form of a close call that haunts him, and that’s students being caught in the door.

There have been fatalities in Kentucky because of students getting caught in the door and being dragged under the bus.

“Those things happen, and it can easily happen if you don’t have your mind focused,” Fisher said. “… There’s a lot to keep up with, but the job as a driver is to keep it in control back here, look out in front for the vehicles. What’s your exit door? It’s a lot. It’s a lot the driver has to take in.”

When Fisher was a bus driver in the 1990s, he had a close call. It was his first year at Strode Station, and on his afternoon route, Fisher said he always tries to do a headcount of students when they get on and off the bus, which is now something he teaches his employees.

That particular day, when the students got off, he knew there were usually five students, but he only counted four.

“So I’m missing one somewhere,” Fisher said. “So I couldn’t put my hand on that gear or move it any further until I locked it down, turn the bus off. And I had to step out and sure enough, underneath my bus was a small girl. She had lost a pencil that she bought for her mother. It was a glitter pencil because it was Mother’s Day. She bought this pencil to give to her mother. She lost her pencil, and she got under my bus to get it. So next thing I know I saw two little white Nike tennis shoes. And that gave it away. I knew then that if I had moved, it absolutely would have killed her. That was the closest I have ever come to killing a child but good thing I made the right protocol and the steps to avoid that from happening.”

Bus safety tips for parents

The Kentucky Department of Education has a few best practices for parents to help keep children safe.

Tips include:

— Arrive at the bus stop five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive.

— Have all items in their book bag before they leave home, so they do not drop anything.

— Wait at the bus stop in a safe place, 10 to 12 feet away from the road.

— Keep electronic equipment packed away as they prepare to board. Never use an electronic device or wear earbuds when walking to the bus stop or when getting on or off the bus.

— Return home to get help or phone for assistance if they miss the bus.

— Never chase after the bus.

— Never walk to another bus stop.

— Never drive your child to another bus stop without permission. The bus driver is not expecting them, and your child may not be seen and can be injured.

Help keep students safe

If someone sees a vehicle passing a school bus while it is loading or unloading students, contact law enforcement to report the vehicle description and license plate number.

Fisher said he also wants people to help buses get through on narrow country roads. Per Kentucky law, buses cannot go off-road to let another vehicle pass, so if a motorist is approaching a bus on a small country road, it would be helpful if the driver could find a way to either back into a driveway or find a way to let the bus pass, Fisher said.

“Anytime you see a yellow school bus or a church bus, whatever, let that be an indication there’s a special requirement of you to pay attention to what that bus is doing,” Roarx added. “… We try to instruct our students always to do their maneuvers and to find the safety zones … but be prepared to see them come out anywhere. Be prepared to see then going after that extra piece of paper they dropped or a homework assignment or whatever because it can happen.”

Fisher said he also urges motorists to be understanding.

“A lot of times, on our special needs routes, we’ve had people blow their horn at us,” Fisher said. “Understand we’re discharging a student that’s in a wheelchair possibly. Or students that have a challenge in lots of different ways. And they’re not going to speed to get off the bus … Bus stops take on average two minutes apiece. So it’s not going to hurt someone to wait a minute to make sure our youngsters are home safe and back in the hands of the guardians.”

Roarx said people could also help by educating others about the law and calling out those who violate it.

As a bus driver, Roarx said he tries his best to ensure his students are safe at all times. He is the first and last part of the school day, and he always tries to connect with the students, telling them good morning, how are you, and more. But he needs other motorists to do their part, too.

“Look at all these kids, all 3,500, or whatever number we’ve got at that particular time,” Roarx said. “They are our kids, precious cargo. There are our babies while we transport them. We treat them as our kids.”