Jordan District bus drivers take safety lessons to every elementary school

Jordan School District's transportation staff are visiting every elementary school in the district during National School Bus Safety Week, which runs Oct. 19 to 23, to teach students how to board, ride and leave a bus 16.

The district describes the format of the visits: students watch a short safety video, then go outside and practice boarding, riding and exiting a bus, and practice evacuating it in an emergency 1. The district's post describes "Charlie the Bus Buddy" as the drivers' new friend on the visits and posts photographs of students practicing at a bus 1. The post does not state how many schools the drivers will visit, how long the program runs or what it costs 1.

The national week carries the theme "Safe Rides, Everyday Heroes" this year 6.

The district operates 291 buses, 130 of them compressed natural gas, and reports home-to-school service for approximately 18,726 students each day 2. Its buses travel more than 2,653,619 miles a year and make more than 2,591 activity trips, and the department lists 225 bus drivers, 22 bus attendants and 41 support employees 2.

Statewide, the Utah State Board of Education's pupil transportation office counts 3,167 school buses carrying 201,578 children every day 4. That office also reports the result of an annual one-day count of stop-arm violations: over 900 vehicles passed stopped school buses with their lights flashing while students were getting on or off, which it projects to approximately 160,000 violations over a school year 4.

Utah law requires a driver who meets or overtakes a bus displaying flashing red lights to stop immediately before reaching it and to remain stopped until the lights go off 5. A violation is a class C misdemeanor with a minimum penalty of $1,000 and 10 hours of compensatory service for a first offense, $2,000 and 20 hours for a second within five years, and $3,000 and 40 hours for a third or later offense 5.

The district buses elementary students who live 1.5 miles or more from the nearest access to their school and secondary students who live 2.0 miles or more, and it accepts applications from students who fall inside those distances for seats that remain open 3.

The district's post asks parents to remind students of bus rules and credits drivers and transportation staff for the instruction 1.

Sources: 1 Jordan School District, "School Bus Drivers and Charlie the Bus Buddy Teach Students About Safety," October 2026 — https://jordandistrict.org/2026/10/school-bus-drivers-and-charlie-the-bus-buddy-teach-students-about-safety/ 2 Jordan School District Auxiliary Services, Transportation — About Us — https://auxiliaryservices.jordandistrict.org/transportation/about-us/ 3 Jordan School District Auxiliary Services, Transportation — Eligibility Guidelines — https://auxiliaryservices.jordandistrict.org/transportation/eligibility-guidelines/ 4 Utah State Board of Education, Pupil Transportation — https://schools.utah.gov/financialoperations/pupiltransportation 5 Utah Code Section 41-6a-1302, School bus — signs and light signals — penalties — https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title41/Chapter6A/C41-6a-S1302_2024050120240501.pdf 6 National Association for Pupil Transportation, National School Bus Safety Week — https://www.napt.org/nsbsw