ALBERTVILLE – It sounds simple, but keeping your seat on a school bus could save your child’s life. 

Designed to promote school bus safety, Albertville City Schools will be observing National School Bus Safety Week Oct. 17-21. Held during the third full week of October each year, National School Bus Safety Week is an active and evolving public education program and an excellent way for parents, students, teachers and motorists to join forces and address the importance of school bus safety. 

“We are making strides in safety, and we want to make sure these safety tips stick with our students and community,” said Albertville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Boyd K. English. “More than half of our study body rides our buses, and where there is a bus, there will always be children. We want the public to be aware of their surroundings when they are driving so our kids can get where they need to go safely.” 

ACS Transportation Supervisor Jimmy Umphrey and his staff will venture into the schools this week for bus safety training with students in kindergarten through fourth grade. The training is held during physical education classes so that the staff can provide the information to all students, even if they aren’t regular bus riders. Umphrey’s hope with the training is that throughout the years, seeds are planted to establish a mindset of safety and how important it is.

“Bottom to bottom, back-to-back, feet on the floor. How to sit properly is a big emphasis in our training,” said Umphrey. “When kids are in the car with their parents, they don’t jump from front to back. They stay in their seats. It’s the same thing on the school bus. That’s one of our biggest problems, kids not staying still.” 

Another big problem facing bus drivers is motorists constantly passing stopped school busses. Too many cars on the road are ignoring the safety laws, illegally passing buses or ignoring the red flashing lights when students are being picked up or dropped off. 

“People just aren’t paying attention. They are in a hurry and don’t want to stop long enough for us to get the kids off the bus and across the road to their homes. Slow down. Whatever the reason you’re in a hurry, it’s not worth a child’s life,” said Umphrey. 

If driving behind a bus, motorists should allow a greater distance than if they were driving behind a car. Yellow flashing lights indicate the bus is preparing to stop to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicle. Red flashing lights and extended stop arms indicate the bus has stopped and children are getting on or off. Motorists should stop their car and wait until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop-arm is withdrawn, and the bus begins moving, before driving again. It is illegal for motorists to pass a stopped school bus. 

There are 56 school bus routes for the Albertville City School System. Fifty-seven full-time drivers trek a combined average of more than 800 miles per day transferring students to and from schools in the district, and that’s just the morning and afternoon routes. When there are performances to see and school field trips, the drivers could transfer over 3,000 students during the day. Umphrey praised the mechanics who keep the 65-bus fleet running. The mechanics inspect each bus monthly, with more than 100 items being carefully inspected on each bus. He said they make sure it’s mechanically as safe and sound as they would want it to be for their own children riding them. 

“There’s a lot of logistics that goes into transportation. It’s more than just a kid getting on the bus and going home. We have to figure out how to lay routes out and establish logistics so that we don’t have people unnecessarily waiting behind stopped busses,” said Umphrey. “We have to optimize it and make as efficient as it can be.” 

One of the benefits to students and families riding the school bus in Albertville is the routing system. Students travel with other students who are closer in age to them. The routing system separates kindergarten through fourth grade students from fifth through twelfth grade students. 

Umphrey is a second-generation bus driver, following in his mom’s footsteps, who drove a bus for 17 years. He worked as an engineer after graduating with his degree in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He was bi-vocational, serving as a minister in full and part-time capacities through the years. Seeing the need for health insurance, he decided in 2007 to start driving a bus for Albertville City Schools. A little over four years later, Umphrey took over as the transportation supervisor and has been there ever since. 

“I love the kids. That’s one thing I always tell people who want to get a job here. If you don’t love kids, this isn’t the job for you. You have to love the kids,” said Umphrey. “It’s an opportunity we have every day, and I’ve really tried stressing this to our drivers. We are the first person our students see and the last one they see when it comes to the school system. We need to try to do our best to take advantage of the opportunity we are presented with to make that first impression every day and to make that positive impact on the kids’ lives.” 

Umphrey said drivers never know what’s going on in their students’ environments when they leave home to get on the bus or get off in the afternoons. Drivers see all kinds of circumstances and emotions from their students. 

“Some hang their hope on seeing that school bus come get them in the mornings. The difference we can make every day is worth making. We’re here to make a difference in their lives and be a positive influence to them. Everyone remembers their bus driver’s name. No one forgets that,” said Umphrey. 

Bus safety tips to protect children

Here are some rules for students to follow while riding the bus.

On the way to the bus: