PLACENTIA YORBA LINDA : School Bus Riders Give Program a Test Drive

When 5-year-old Bethany Kishiyama boards the yellow school bus that will take her to the first day of kindergarten this morning, it won’t be a brand-new routine for her or her parents, thanks to a get-acquainted-with-the-bus program at Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.

The program, an expansion of one begun last year on a pilot basis, is designed to introduce kindergartners and their parents to bus safety rules, as well as give both drivers and students a chance to meet.

“The first day of school is hectic enough,” said driver Lupe Falls. “This gives me a chance to learn their names before all the commotion starts.”

Falls and the students also had a chance to test the district’s new method for ensuring that both kindergarten students and drivers know where they get off the bus.

This year, every kindergarten bus rider will be issued a wristband color-coded for the correct stop.

If a child tries to get off the bus at the wrong stop, Falls and other drivers in the district should spot the mistake.

Charles Bednar, transportation director for the district, hopes Monday’s practice run and the color-coded wrist bands will prevent tragic accidents such as the one that occurred this year in South County when a student was killed as he mistakenly got off the bus at the wrong stop and was struck by a car.

“Obviously, we want to prevent any tragedy from happening,” Bednar said. “We think this program will do that, as well as take the apprehension out of the minds of the kindergartners and the parents.”

After Monday’s practice ride, Nancy Woodbury said her son, Christopher, would be ready for his first ride alone on the bus.

“I’m not so sure about me, though,” she said. “I’ll probably drive behind the bus, watching him, all the way to school.”