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In-person learning means changes on the bus for students in Muskego.
As school districts begin to reopen for in-person learning, that also means school buses will be back up and running.
MUSKEGO - As school districts begin to reopen for in-person learning, that also means school buses will be back up and running. With that in mind, transportations are taking precautions to make sure students and drivers are safe amid the pandemic.
After six months of isolation, Shari Engstrom’s two children will be once again be surrounded by other people when school begins Sept. 1.
"We’re looking for some kind of return to normalcy with the expectation that it will change or evolve throughout the year because there’s so many unknowns," said Engstrom.
Part of the Muskego-Norway School District, Engstrom said administrators gave students the option to attend class this fall in the traditional sense or from home.
"They are going in person," said Engstrom. "They wanted to."
That also means her middle-school-aged son and daughter will be riding the bus.
"I’ve been told there’s assigned seating," said Engstrom. "I’ve been told there will be a face-covering requirement."
Those precautions are among several guidelines the Wisconsin School Bus Association is recommending, but not requiring, that school bus companies and districts implement to reduce the spread of the coronavirus for everyone on board.
"Each school district will be doing its own plan," said Cherie Hime, executive director of the Wisconsin School Bus Association. "There’s no standard plan that everybody will be following."
In addition to masks, Hime suggests a limit on the number of students at a bus stop or on the bus at a given time, assigning students to one bus, opening windows when possible and creating a sanitization plan.
"Making sure that the buses are cleaned before they go out, cleaned between runs and cleaned at the end of the day," she said.
Already, some of the social distancing concerns may be taking care of themselves. Engstrom noted that at least one family in her subdivision has opted out of bus service for the semester.
"This year will a little bit different, but everything is different, and they want to give it a shot," said Hime.