Virginia Governor Ralph S. Northam

WHEREAS, the health and safety of all Virginia children is essential to the happiness and well-being of the Commonwealth’s families, teachers, and communities; and

WHEREAS, student transportation administrators and operators remain diligent in their efforts to ensure the safe and efficient transportation of thousands of students in Virginia on a daily basis, and their efforts are crucial to the operation of our public and private schools; and

WHEREAS, the cooperation and caution of the public is necessary to maintain the safety of Virginia's children, which can be accomplished by motorists complying with traffic signals and by stopping when students are boarding and exiting a school bus; and

WHEREAS, school buses are designed and constructed with numerous safety features, such as the specific color yellow, reflective tape, strobe lights, crossing arms and the eight light traffic system; and

WHEREAS, school bus drivers adhere to the highest standards of school bus safety through rigorous driver training and certification requirements; and

WHEREAS, student transportation employees receive training in student behavior management, loading and unloading, security, and first aid training; and

WHEREAS, the school bus industry operates under a set of safety, security, health, and driver qualification guidelines that meet, and in many cases exceed, federal and state laws; these parameters ensure that the school bus is a safe method of transportation for our children; and

WHEREAS, school bus transportation employees should be recognized for their diligence in safely transporting the school children of the Commonwealth of Virginia;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ralph S. Northam, do hereby recognize October 21-25, 2019, as NATIONAL SCHOOL BUS SAFETY WEEK and October 23, 2019, as SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORTATION EMPLOYEES APPRECIATION DAY in our COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.