The past week has been an extremely difficult one for the school bus community, as two bus drivers died following crashes and a school principal was killed after being struck by a school bus.
Jason Henry, a school bus driver for Casas Christian School near Tucson, Arizona, died last Friday from injuries suffered seven days earlier after being struck by another motorist. Henry, 40, reportedly had just exited his bus outside the school grounds to move a sign that was in the path of his school bus. He was then struck by a 16-year-old motorist, who told Oro Valley Police that he did not see Henry in the roadway until it was too late.
The police said in a statement that there were no criminal charges pending.
A GoFundMe page was erected in Henry’s memory with the goal of raising $15,000 for his wife Brooke and two children, one of which attends Casas Christian. At this writing, more than $17,200 in donations had been made.
Henry’s death came days after Indiana school principal Susan Jordan was killed in her school parking lot after a school bus jumped the curb and struck her. She reportedly was waiting with students for them to board the bus on their way home and pushed several children out of the way before being hit. The incident prompted the Indiana Department of Education to send a memo to all superintendents urging them to review safety procedures for school bus pickups and dropoffs.
Over the weekend, beloved bus driver Jerry Joe Robinson, 42, of Sand Springs Public Schools in Oklahoma was killed in a two-car crash.
The losses come weeks after the industry learned of an encouraging trend of reduced student fatalities at school bus stops, as reported by the National School Bus Loading & Unloading Survey. These tragedies, especially those involving Henry and Jordan, serve as a somber reminder that school bus safety is not just about the children. Yes, the most vulnerable among us require the utmost attention, diligence even, in ensuring they remain as safe as possible on the way to and home from school. But school bus safety also encompasses so much more than that.
Henry was just doing his job, and so was Jordan. Robinson was driving around town with his wife on a Saturday, presumable enjoying their weekend. It is so unfair that they had to lose their lives as a result, but transportation is a dangerous activity, even with school buses albeit rarely. Don’t let their deaths be in vain.
Completely eliminating risk is one of the hardest tasks any of us face, and it is especially difficult in school bus operations. That’s what makes the yellow bus safety record so amazing. But more can always be done to eliminate risk and this applies not only to busing students but developing and enforcing safety procedures on the bus and off it for students and staff, alike.
