Update: School Board to Discuss Seat Belt Issue on April 10

The Loudoun County School Board has decided to wait until their April 10 meeting to make a decision on whether to continue installing seatbelts on school buses. The decision was made so that board members can examine research data and hear from constituents on the issue.

At Tuesday’s meeting the school system’s Health, Safety, and Wellness Committee recommended that Loudoun County no longer purchase school buses with seat belts.The recommendation is based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research showing that seatbelts “do not appreciably increase student safety on large school buses.”

The move could save Loudoun County an estimated $500,000 but school board members say that finances were not the primary consideration in making the recommendation.

“If people think this is the richest county in country not putting students first to save a few pennies, that’s not the case,” said Debbie Rose, chairwoman of the Health, Safety, and Wellness Committee, which recommended the change. “Feedback from staff and from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn’t demonstrated that [seatbelts] provide any additional safety for students. Why purchase them if they’re not helping?”

Eric Hornberger, chairman of the school board, agreed.

“The bus drivers we’ve heard from actually consider them more of a hazard,” he said. “Kids use them to hit each other, kids trip over them, and if there’s an emergency the bus drivers are worried that they’d be able to help the kids get out of them and get everyone off the bus in a timely manner.”

Hornberger added that both research and staff member feedback indicate that “the vast majority” of students do not use the seatbelts.

“This isn’t about saving money at the expense of student,” Rose reiterated. “I have kids who ride the bus. I care deeply about them and I care deeply about student safety.”

Correction: The seatbelt issue was not up for a vote on Tuesday, so that does not qualify as a delay.