By Staff Reports
DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. — October 22-26 is National School Bus Safety Week. In DeKalb County approximately 5000 students are transported over 6000 miles per day. It takes 121 regular route drivers to make this happen for 177 school days.
With so many students traveling on buses every day, safety has to be a top priority. DeKalb County Schools Transportation Supervisor, Dr. Keith Atchley decided to conduct a safe driver spotlight on a driver in DeKalb County. School administrators were contacted and asked to submit the name of a driver at their school who goes above the call of duty to care for the students every day. Many outstanding drivers were recognized but Sharon Sibert at Geraldine High School stands out. Sharon has been driving for 16 years. On average she transports 50 students a day from the Whiton and Painter communities to GHS, with AL Hwy 75 being the main road on her route. One reason Sharon was chosen for the safety spotlight is the steps she has taken to ensure safe stops on Hwy 75.
With illegal passing being a problem, Mrs. Sibert brought it to the attention of Geraldine Assistant Principal Mrs. Chrystal Henderson. The majority of buses in the county have interior cameras, but only the latest models have exterior stop-arm cameras that record in HD. However, the district has one spare bus equipped with a stop-arm camera system. This bus was assigned to Sibert's route and she is driving the spare bus with the hope of bringing some of the illegal passers to justice.
"I want to commend Sharon Sibert for being proactive and caring for her students," states Atchley. "It takes everyone working together to keep bus riders safe. If drivers will slow and prepare to stop when they see amber warning lights, and stop when a bus has red lights flashing and stop sign extended bus stops will be safer," notes Atchley.
He also points out that drivers should stop when a bus is stopped on all undivided roads and highways. This includes state four lane highways that have turning lanes. Only when lanes are divided by a median or grassed areas can oncoming traffic proceed.
Traffic behind the bus must always stop when the bus stops. When asked what community members can do to help, Sibert responded, “Students are the most precious cargo transported today! Pay attention to school bus warning lights, think about others and not just your schedule, and remember children do the unexpected." For more information on school bus safety visit www.napt.org.
The DeKalb County Schools Transportation Department would like to recognize the following drivers who were nominated for the spotlight: Larry Laney-Valley Head, Rebecca Butler-Sylvania, Stephanie Lacey-Crossville, Dawn Price-Collinsville, and John Kincer-Moon Lake.