Ritchie Secures Funds To Enhance School Bus, Pedestrian Safety

State Senator Patty Ritchie announced that she secured $16,000 in funding for school districts in Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties that will improve the safety of students traveling to school and back home.

The funding comes on the heels of an incident last week where a Jefferson County student was nearly struck by a reckless driver as the student was getting off the school bus to go home.

This incident joins the hundreds of others reported by local districts and their bus drivers as part of a survey Senator Ritchie conducted earlier this year on the number of buses illegally passed over a five-day period.

Results of that survey are available on www.ritchie.nysenate.gov

“The safety of our children traveling to and from school, whether they are on the bus or walking, needs to be on the mind of every driver out on the roads. The recent number of reported incidents near our schools and school buses show that drivers are allowing themselves to lose focus while behind the wheel or simply ignoring laws designed to protect our students,” Senator Ritchie said. “I’m proud to have secured this funding, which will not only help keep our children safe, but will serve as a head-start for the upcoming 2018 legislative session where improving student and school bus safety will be a top priority of mine.”

This special funding will help the following schools, which reported the highest number of illegal passes, purchase equipment to improve school bus safety, identify reckless drivers and improve safety for students who walk to and from school:

Fulton City School District: $5,000

Watertown City School District: $5,000

Massena Central School District: $3,000

Gouverneur Central School District: $3,000

“Student safety is the district’s highest priority,” Fulton City School District Superintendent Brian Pulvino said. “That priority includes student transportation to and from school. Thanks to Senator Ritchie’s ongoing and tireless support of schools and in this specific case, student transportation safety, the Fulton City School District will be able to enhance school bus security systems both inside and outside the vehicles.”

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