Describes the funding mechanism in Illinois that permits school districts to levy a separate tax to pay for risk management and tort liability. Offers practical applications for risk care management including risk care management job descriptions. (MLF)

This literature review addresses three specific safety issues: installing seat belts in new buses, retrofitting existing buses with seat belts, and comparing seat belts with other safety features. While inconclusive evidence is provided concerning the first issue, studies do suggest retiring older buses and possibly equipping buses that meet PL…

A Proactive Safety Campaign at Lake Central School Corporation in St. John, Indiana, has lowered workers' compensation insurance costs. Quarterly meetings with the insurance carrier and the director of each department address individual concerns. (MLF)

After a South Carolina school bus accident, involving the death of an automobile driver, the district was faced with a lawsuit. Advises school administrators not to rely on police authorities to gather all the evidence but to compile a thorough school-system accident report, written in close cooperation with a school attorney. Lists report…

A school district's risk manager must provide the leadership in risk management for district special events. Tables list the following: (1) seven reasons for event failures, and preventive measures to take; (2) risk analysis checklist; and (3) event planning outline. (MLF)

Examines court decisions in 1995 concerning college and university tort liability in accidents. Issues addressed include defects in premises, inadequate facility maintenance, school policy concerning safety, recreational activities on campuses, student field experience programs, campus activities involving children, operation of campus housing,…

A roundtable discussion of the issue of seat belts in school buses features United States Representative Peter H. Kostmayer, who has introduced a bill providing incentive grants to states to adopt and enforce laws requiring the use of seat belts in new school buses; three bus manufacturing executives; and two educators. (MLF)

Studies on seat belt usage conducted under contract with governmental organizations or prepared by professional societies, state and local organizations, and transportation specialists have made significant contributions, but none has successfully resolved the issue. (MLF)

A camp that is establishing a challenge course or climbing wall must ensure program safety. Discusses financial planning, selecting a contractor, adhering to standards for construction, inspections, staff training, screening of participants, and the administrative challenge of implementing and documenting proper actions. Sidebar discusses a study…

Following the guidelines of the "Handbook for Public Playground Safety," published in 1981 and currently being reevaluated, is only a first step in an overall playground safety program of planning, purchasing, installation, maintaining, and supervision. Includes playground safety checklists and ways to make playgrounds safer. (MLF)

The purpose of this plan is to minimize the potential for disaster and to minimize damage to materials if a disaster should occur. It contains: emergency instructions; evacuation procedures; a disaster contact list; and sections on salvage priorities, prevention, protection, response, recovery, rehabilitation, disaster team responsibilities,…

This syllabus, designed for use by administrators, program developers, and teachers, provides local education agencies with a framework for establishing a safety education progam in New York's public schools. Information is presented on education laws and commissioner's regulations regarding safety education, as well as philosophies, objectives,…

From observations during an investigation of children's behaviors on school buses, two general points seem important. First, current selection and training procedures for bus drivers generally ignore issues of pupil management. Second, focusing on pupil management issues in the selection, training, and supervision of drivers can have a number of…

Students need training at home, at school, and on the bus concerning their own actions while traveling on school buses. The training needs to focus on the dangers, on how students can help to save their own lives, and on developing a positive attitude toward safety and the driver. (MLF)

Adequate staffing for pupil transportation provides for the following: (1) drivers are appropriately instructed; (2) school buses meet the highest standards of construction and maintenance; (3) discipline is uniformly administered; (4) instruction in safe riding practices is provided; and (5) salary and fringe benefits retain the best qualified…