Gwinnett County Schools Win Pupil Transportation Safety Award

Gwinnett County Schools is among 16 Georgia school systems recognized for going above and beyond to ensure safe and efficient student transportation. The Georgia Department of Education’s second annual Pupil Transportation Safety Awards were doled out by State School Superintendent Richard Woods, the Georgia Department of Education (GDE) said in a news release.

“Our pupil transportation professionals are entrusted with precious cargo, and work incredibly hard each day to make sure Georgia’s students arrive at school safe and ready to learn,” Woods said. “These sixteen districts are going above and beyond to ensure student safety and recognize the school bus as an extension of the overall climate and culture of a school. I thank them for their efforts and commend them for their work.”

Winners were selected in eight divisions based on enrollment size. The winning districts were selected by a panel of judges, based on an application which evaluated a number of factors that impact bus safety. Those factors included completing safety training, evacuation drills, and other safety initiatives with students.

Here's what GDE had to say about Gwinnett County.

Division 8 (districts with a full-time student enrollment above 20,000)

Green Award Winner – Gwinnett County Schools

To keep the focus on safety, Gwinnett County Schools requires 55 hours of classroom training, 28 hours of classroom special needs training, 20 hours of range driving without students, and 20 hours of road training with students. To stay ahead of the demand for bus drivers, the district’s transportation and information management departments are working together to develop recruiting videos. The district offers paid training, excellent benefits, and a guarantee of six working hours per day. A Puppeteer Team helps deliver school bus safety training to special needs students.