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What will busing look like for kids headed back to school?

As parents and students prepare to head back to school, there are a lot of questions swirling about what social distancing, masks and capacity will look like on buses.

News 12 Staff

Aug 10, 2020, 7:11 PM

Updated 1,584 days ago

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As parents and students prepare to head back to school, there are a lot of questions swirling about what social distancing, masks and capacity will look like on buses.
Doug Kopp, a bus driver with Suffolk Transportation Service, says his biggest concern is if parents are confident enough to send their kids to school.
Kopp, who currently takes two students to a summer program, says the bus company has strict safety protocols in place for him and the students.
The VP of operations for Suffolk Transportation Service says the back-to-school safety plan includes ventilation with windows cracked, students sitting in a staggered format with one child per seat. The seats would be marked with stickers for an open seat, a red X for one that is off limits.
"The biggest safety measure is mask wearing, whether it's in the bus yard, whether it's on board and the public or the students wearing it," says Thomas Smith.
Another measure is that buses will be frequently disinfected throughout the day. The seat behind the bus driver will also always be empty.
"We'll be doing monthly, high level cleaning with electrostatic machines, within the buses in the entire fleet and it's about 1,600 vehicles, so it's a job in and of itself," says Smith.
When it comes to paying for the supplies needed to carry out these measures, Smith says they are in talks with some districts about funding, but nothing is confirmed yet.
"Hopefully the schools are going to put something in place that will work together with us and we'll have a nice, safe environment for the kids to go back to school," says Kopp.
Suffolk Transportation Service transports kids in 19 school districts and also operates buses for the county.