Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

WS/FCS to purchase school bus safety enhancements

The Winston-Salem Police Department has arrested a woman for assaulting a school bus driver in October. AMY DIAZ/WFDD

The Winston-Salem Police Department has arrested a woman for assaulting a school bus driver in October. AMY DIAZ/WFDD

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction began providing school districts with grant opportunities for bus enhancements last year, with a goal of increasing student safety as they board and exit. 

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools was awarded more than $20,000. The majority of that money will go toward purchasing what are called “illuminated stop arms.” 

At a meeting on Tuesday, the district’s Chief Operations Officer Lauren Richards explained that these will make the buses more visible as they stop to let passengers off and on. 

“We think that will be a great help for our Early Start schools, and our bus routes that run a little bit later in the evening in the dark and so that all of our cars in the community can see that very clearly," Richards said. 

Right now, only one school bus has this equipment. The grant will fund eight more. 

Richards says the district will also purchase four stop arms with cameras, which can catch potential violations that can then be reported to law enforcement. 

According to the state Department of Transportation, there were nearly 1,000 charges against drivers who failed to stop for buses in 2022. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

Amy Diaz began covering education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD in partnership with Report For America in 2022. Before entering the world of public radio, she worked as a local government reporter in Flint, Mich. where she was named the 2021 Rookie Writer of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Diaz is originally from Florida, where she interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, but truly got her start in the field in elementary school writing scripts for the morning news. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate