Before students at Ross Woodward could go home Thursday, they had a surprise pop quiz from Chief Lewis.
“What’s your first rule on the bus?” the chief asked a busload of kids heading home after their second day of school.
“Sit down?” said one student.
“Don’t move around?” said another.
Those are good answers, Lewis said, but the most important rule is “Do what your bus driver asks you to do.” (Click the play arrow to see the full lecture.)
Chief Lewis gave his lesson as part of a school bus safety event at Ross Woodward School on Thursday afternoon. Several police officers, including Asst. Chief Ken Gillespie, were on hand to speak about the importance of school bus safety.
The lesson, organized by the police department and the school board, was part of several public events put together by the district to kick off the school year. On Wednesday, Superintendent Reggie Mayo led a high-profile celebration of the opening of Bishop Woods and Mauro-Sheridan schools. On Friday, a special celebration of the first day of kindergarten at Johnson Daniels School is planned.
At 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, students streamed out of the rear entrance of Ross Woodward School, on Barnes Avenue in the Quinnipiac Meadows neighborhood. As they boarded their buses to go home, Chief Lewis was close behind.
After a brief introduction by Principal Cheryl Brown, and after taking a moment to admire a new bookbag, the chief began his speech. Stay in your seats and get off the bus carefully, Lewis told the children.
“The most important thing to us is that you’re back in school again tomorrow,” Lewis said. “So we want you to be really safe on the bus.”
The kids thanked Lewis and urged him to have a “championship day.”
Teddi Barra, who directs transportation for the Board of Education, expressed her gratitude for the support that New Haven police have given to school bus drivers. “They’ve been wonderful,” she said. In the past, officers have stopped buses where they see kids getting out of control, she said. “It calms the students down” to have a police officer step into the bus and talk to the kids, Barra said.
Involvement with school transportation, police recently had a meeting about rules and order with school bus drivers, said Asst. Chief Gillespie.
Chief Lewis said that he hoped that when parents see that police are taking school bus safety seriously, they help to reinforce the message at home.
This is the first year that the police department has held school bus safety lecture. City spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said that the city would like it to become an annual event.