HSIPC: Head Start Bulletin--Head Start Highlights: The Head Start NPRM on Transportation Safety

By William F. Wilson, Program Specialist, Program Operations and Management Branch, Head Start Bureau

On July 15, 1995, the Head Start Bureau published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in Head Start transportation safety in the Federal Register. In order to obtain the broadest possible input, the Federal Register announcement was direct mailed to all Head Start programs and delegate agencies and to approximately 155 transportation agencies and concerned individuals nationwide.

The Bureau received over 500 responses to the NPRM, and literally thousands of comments regarding the various aspects of the proposed regulations. Most stated that some kind of transportation safety regulations were necessary and provided helpful comments on issues such as the ratio of monitors, driver training requirements, and use of child restraint system. A significant number, however, disagreed with the proposed requirements that Head Start children should be transported only on vehicles that met the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for a school bus and, if permissible by State law, that the vehicle also be school bus yellow.

Vehicle requirements for Head Start have proven to be the most problematic of the proposed standards and the most difficult and time consuming to resolve. On the positive side, however, they have sparked discussions over the future of school transportation as it relates to the transportation of very young children.

This article is an attempt to explain the basis of the problem and to describe the actions underway to reach a resolution.

It is understood that everyone in the business of providing transportation services is concerned about safety. There is disagreement, however, between those who provide transit type services and those who provide school bus transportation as to what is "safe enough" when transporting young children. This disagreement exists throughout the transportation community, from local operators to State agencies, and from safety advocacy organizations such as the National Safety Council and the American Academy of Pediatrics, to national member organizations such as the American Public Transit Association and the National School Transportation Association. This disagreement is best exemplified in the opposing policies of two agencies within the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT): the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

NHTSA has responsibility for the regulation of all aspects of highway traffic safety, including school buses. The FTA provides funding to the States for the development and operation of public transportation systems.

NHTSA believes that the yellow school bus is the safest means of transporting children to and from school, and has consistently maintained that Head Start programs are "schools" and, therefore, children enrolled in Head Start programs should only be transported on vehicles that meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for school buses. (This applies only to the structure of the vehicle. NHTSA leaves the decision as to who can operate yellow school buses to the States.)

As a result, NHTSA's Highway Safety Guideline on "Pupil Transportation Safety" became the principal model for Head Start's proposed regulations. Throughout the rule making process, NHTSA has been firm in its position that Head Start children should only be transported on school buses.

On the other hand, FTA believes that transit type vehicles, including vans when operated by properly trained drivers, are just as safe as school buses. Accordingly, the FTA has stood firm in its position that the school bus requirement is unwarranted given the safety record of transit operations. Furthermore, FTA maintains that since most coordinated systems use vans or transit type vehicles, the school bus requirement is counter to the goal of the Joint DHHS/DOT Coordinating Council on Human Services Transportation, which is to promote the pooling of human service transportation resources at the local level.

So, how to resolve this dilemma? The Head Start Bureau, FTA, and NHTSA are sponsoring a series of meetings in conjunction with the Coordinating Council, which will bring together a diverse group of representatives of school transportation providers, human services transportation providers, State officials, national associations, safety advocacy organizations, and Head Start programs to create a dialogue and, hopefully, find common ground on the issues raised by the safety requirements in the NPRM. The first meeting was held on June 25, 1996, and at least two more follow-up meetings are planned for the fall of 1996.

It is essential for these issues to be resolved if Head Start is to be successful in establishing transportation safety standards. In pursuit of this goal, it is important to be patient in these efforts and reasonable in using judgement as the Bureau seeks to balance the need for safety with Head Start's role in the larger human services transportation community.

Although Head Start is eager to have transportation performance standards in place, it must be sure that such standards are achievable, both financially and programmatically, and that they foster cooperation and not create barriers at the community level.

Finally, the resolution of these issues goes beyond the Head Start program since the outcome is likely to affect the future of preschool transportation in general. Again, Head Start finds itself in the role of leader and advocate in another aspect of quality services to preschool children and their families.

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Last Modified: 10/31/01


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