Beach bus drivers not complying with inspection requirements, state says

VIRGINIA BEACH

Every morning before starting their runs, the city's public school bus drivers check the inside and outside of their buses for problems. But it's not enough, according to the state.

Because their checks don't involve crawling under the bus and opening the hood, drivers are not complying with regulations.

"This is a requirement," said Julie Grimes, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. "There are regulations in place for the safety of children."

Although they say they'll change their protocol, transportation officials with Beach schools protest any implication they are endangering students.

"Safety is paramount. There is no deviation from that," said John Kalocay, assistant superintendent for operations. He sent a letter Wednesday to the Department of Education that said the school division won't force bus drivers to conduct checks that are "not reasonable or executable."

The letter called the regulations "antiquated" and "... in the light of new technologies is not necessary to ensure student safety." He asked the state to change the regulations.

Grimes said the rules have been in place since at least 1975 and were updated in 2004. Though the state is revising the regulations this year, fellow spokesman Charles Pyle said that does not exempt the Beach from complying. The state superintendent, Billy K. Cannaday Jr., issued a statement Thursday saying schools that don't do all the checks could be open to liability. Pyle said visual inspections of the engine compartment are needed to spot tampering or sabotage.

The inspections required by the state take more than 20 minutes when executed step by step. They involve climbing onto a bus tire to check coolant levels and getting under the bus to look for loose shock absorbers and cracks.

Pyle, however, disagreed that the regulations require drivers to crawl under buses.

Eighty percent of the more than 600 drivers employed by the school system would have trouble completing those physical tasks, Kalocay said.

After demonstrating the nearly 100 checks required by the state on Thursday, Cris Sprouse, a transportation supervisor, had dirt on his shirt and pants and black grease up to one elbow.

For about eight years, Virginia Beach has required a set of checks that take about eight minutes and use dashboard controls and visual inspections of the inside and outside of the bus.

Beach officials said they believed they had the leeway to make adjustments. The changes were made once the bus fleet had been upgraded to include computerized engine checks and a dashboard full of gauges, said David Pace, director of transportation.

He noted that Beach school buses are inspected every 30 days and most drivers follow recommendations that a mechanic check fluid levels weekly. Four technicians are on call each day to address problems.

"I'd much rather have a trained service technician going over that bus than a lay person bus driver," Pace said.

Chesapeake schools also do not require drivers to climb under the bus or open hoods daily. Officials in the other divisions in South Hampton Roads were not reached Thursday.

Pace said he has conducted an informal survey of transportation directors in the region, and five of nine that responded said they don't require drivers to open the hood.

Bonnie Wolf, who trains bus drivers in Virginia Beach, said some candidates have told her they will reconsider if they have to climb up on the bus.

"Everyone, of course, is concerned about the safety of children, but we also have to be considering the safety of our drivers," she said.

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com