Fewer Ohio County Students Expected to Ride School Buses This Fall
WHEELING -- Ohio County students returning to the classroom this fall should face less risk of contracting COVID 19 on their school bus as fewer students are expected to be riding the bus during the pandemic.
To start, just half the number of Ohio County students would be going to school each day under the school district's current plan. That plan calls for the establishment of two separate groups of students, with one group attending two days each week and the other attending a different two days. They all would be doing remote learning three days a week, and Wednesdays would be used as cleaning days in Ohio County Schools.
The school district also has surveyed parents, and learned that about 25 percent will utilize their option to have their children do all remote learning five days a week, according to transportation director David Crumm.
Then among those students who will be going to school, 50 percent of parents say they will be transporting them and they won't be taking the bus, he said.
"If they are a family, they will be seated together," Crumm said. "If they are from the same bus stop, they will be seated in the same area."
Weather permitting, windows will be down on the bus to permit the flow of fresh air, he said.
In addition, hand sanitizer stations have been mounted on each bus, and after each run the bus will be sanitized with ionizing tablets.
"Bus bus drivers will wear masks, and all students will be required to wear a mask," Crumm said. "The driver also will have a box of masks if someone has forgotten."
Bus drivers and other school employees attended a 90-minute cleaning training on Friday provided by Liberty Distributors, he said.
"We're excited about the school year, seeing their smiling faces and getting back to normal," he said.