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SERVES ON STATE COMMITTEE — Buckeye Local school bus driver John Sindeldecker has been named to a safety committee through the Ohio Association of Public School Employees Local 4 AFSCME.
DILLONVALE — John Sindeldecker has transported hundreds of students throughout the Buckeye Local School District for more than 30 years, and that knowledge is serving him well on a statewide bus safety committee.
The Brilliant resident serves as an executive board member on the Ohio Association of Public School Employees Local 4 of AFSCME Safety Committee that was established this year following the formation of the Gov. Mike DeWine’s School Bus Safety Task Force. OAPSE has 30,000 members in Ohio and represents 6,000 bus drivers, while the safety committee includes seven bus drivers, on-board instructors, attendants and transportation supervisors and secretaries from across the state.
“It was formed (in September) when the governor formed his task force,” Sindeldecker said. “The committee’s purpose is to look at using seatbelts on the school buses and our objective was to give our opinion on them and share questions on liability. We put many questions to the task force on paper before they made a recommendation and we are not for or against, but we want them to consider what they do recommend.”
Sindeldecker said the group spoke with many of OAPSE’s representatives to gain their views on the issue.
“Through our field representatives and the board members, we talked to many representatives all over and the cry was to make the recommendation for no seatbelts. We recommended putting on an aide to manage the children so there was help in case of an accident and also looked at safety devices and other systems.”
In a public statement from OAPSE, officials indicated that school buses were among the safest modes of transportation, but it was essential to continue studying ways to make them safer. The matter of equipping them with seatbelts indicated concerns ranging from potential practical problems to serious policy considerations about enforcement and liability. Some potential steps which could positively impact safety include improved, increased and standardized training for all school bus drivers and aides.
Sindeldecker, who is a driver and OBI, posits that the 17 hours of OBI time with a new driver should be increased to adequately prepare them for the road. Other ideas included minimizing distractions by adding an aide and giving attention to student behavior, as well as adding sensors to monitor lane change, object proximity and speed; and addressing driver recruitment and retention.
The committee has also held four Zoom meetings since its creation and the goal is to address matters that are important in the transport of thousands of children each day.
“We came up with the position paper for the task force members,” he added. “The task force will have a meeting in November and we will have one to mirror theirs and see if we can make further recommendations or speak with them.”
The task force is expected to present its recommendations by the first of the year.
Meanwhile, being a bus driver has been a longtime pursuit which began when Sindeldecker was a child.
“I fell in love with the school bus when I began riding one,” he recalled. “I began driving a bus as a senior in high school when it was first permitted at age 18.”
But his career took a temporary detour and he drove a tractor-trailer and then worked for a printing company, but Sindeldecker returned to bus driving and has spent 38 years with Buckeye Local Schools. He currently transports 46 high school and 30 elementary students a total of 170 miles each day, plus he logs another 20-30 miles hauling kids from afterschool programs and high school sports practice.
As an OBI, he has worked with other district bus drivers and his training helped Carri Justice avoid a head-on collision with a truck which veered into the path of her bus in 2021. Justice managed to bring her heavily damaged bus to a stop without any serious injuries to the student passengers. Sindeldecker said his time in the district has been wonderful and being on the safety committee was another route for service.
“I feel good about it. Safety has always been a No. 1 concern and to do the jobs safely so no child gets hurt,” he noted. “To hopefully help govern that so more buses will be safer is great.”
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