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Schools

Schools planning bus safety reminders

After a close call Thursday and Pinellas students' recent deaths, school officials discuss ways to emphasize and promote safety.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published February 18, 2005

It was 6:45 a.m. Thursday when this blared across Pasco County fire and police radios:

Child run over at school bus stop.

That got the attention of school and law enforcement officials.

"Yes, absolutely," school superintendent Heather Fiorentino said. "Along with educating our children we have to make sure they're safe."

Fortunately, Cody Ross was safe.

The 14-year-old Pasco High School freshman was clipped by the right front tire and side mirror of a 2005 Mini Cooper when he darted across foggy Lake Iola Road to get to his bus stop, authorities said.

The Dade City teen was taken to Pasco Regional Medical Center as a precaution and released that afternoon. His family said only his foot was injured.

"A split second later," said his father, Jim Ross, "it would have been a different story."

School officials are well aware of that. Cody's near-miss was a sharp reminder that recent school bus-related accidents in Pinellas and Hernando counties could be replayed in Pasco. At Tuesday night's meeting, school board members discussed ways to emphasize safety.

So today, all Pasco County teachers will review with students the safety rules for coming and going from school by bus, bike and foot.

"We're doing everything we can to make sure our students are safe," Fiorentino said. "Can an accident happen? Nothing's 100 percent foolproof. But we do everything we can to maximize the safety of our students.

"It doesn't matter if they're in pre-K or a senior in high school, we need to go back over all the safety issues to make sure everyone's being safe."

The Tampa Bay area isn't lacking for reminders of what happens when school safety is ignored.

Brooke Ingoldsby died Friday. The 8-year-old was killed when she ran across five lanes of St. Petersburg traffic after a substitute bus driver dropped her off on the wrong side of the street, officials said.

It is the second such fatality in Pinellas County in five months. Rebecca McKinney died after stepping off her school bus last October. The 16-year-old was killed trying to cross six lanes of traffic in Clearwater. In January, eight Hernando County elementary students were hospitalized when their bus overturned, driven by a school employee with a history of careless driving.

Each incident could have been prevented. And so could Thursday morning's near-miss.

Students waiting for school buses are not supposed to cross a street to get to the bus stops, said Jack Greene, supervisor of operations for the district's transportation division.

Instead, students should wait for the buses to arrive, Greene said, then cross the street with the aid of the buses' safety devices: the lit stop arms that swing out when the bus is stopped; the red-yellow student lights on the roof; and the student arm, which swings out in front to keep students walking far enough out front so the driver can see them. Ross crossed the street before his bus arrived.

Jim Ross said Thursday that he's not sure if his son was aware of the street-crossing rules.

"He's sleeping so we really haven't had an in-depth discussion," the father said. "I'm sure we'll sit down some and obviously change the way it's being done now."

One big safety issue facing school officials is what to do about Chasco Elementary and Chasco Middle schools in Port Richey, which share a campus on the south side of busy Ridge Road.

There's no crossing guard on Ridge, Fiorentino said, because there's no sidewalk on the north side. The superintendent said students who live north of Ridge Road are asked not to cross the street, but rather to use buses.

Fiorentino said she and County Administrator John Gallagher discussed building a sidewalk on the north side, which would bring in a crossing guard and allow students to cross Ridge by bike and foot to get to school.

In light of recent events, the original radio call drew plenty of attention to Thursday morning's minor accident, which surprised Cody.

"I think he learned a lesson," said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins Jr. "He was scared with all the attention being out there."

The driver of the vehicle, David Cook, 47, of Dade City was not at fault, according to an FHP report. Cody was. He had violated the vehicle's right of way. But Coggins said the 14-year-old won't be cited.

"It was a learning experience," he said, "and we hope that all involved will learn from it and it won't happen again."

[Last modified February 18, 2005, 00:14:17]