ANOTHER STUDENT IS KILLED AS A FEW COLORADO LAWMAKERS TRY TO KILL A BILL (SB22-85) DEDICATED TO SAVING STUDENT’S LIVES

CHILD SAFETY NETWORK COLLABORATES WITH COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO FIND CAUSAL FACTORS THROUGH A STATEWIDE SURVEY.

PARACHUTE, COLORADO, USA, March 9, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- March 8th, 2022, Parachute in Garfield County, Colorado: Last week on the 3rd of March, the same day an 11-year-old girl named Anna was tragically run over and killed by her own school bus, the Colorado Department of Education, and the Child Safety Network (CSN) received survey results back from over 700 schools across the state to review the current situation in Colorado school bus safety.

” Our 11-year-old daughter, Makayla, was killed right in front of me as she was getting off her bus. Our hearts go out to Anna Backner's family, my wife Melissa and I know what they are going through to lose a daughter full of life and potential. We are not sure that people understand that this type of tragedy will continue if left alone, or that it affects the entire community, or that we have been fighting for three years to get lawmakers in Colorado to pass the type of legislation that could have saved Anna and Makayla lives.” Said Detective Dan Sperry, CSN Senior Advisor on School Bus Safety

The prime co-sponsor of the Bipartisan bill, Senator Don Coram (who has been fighting for this legislation since 2019 along with Senate Education Chair, Rachel Zenzinger), took a moment of “personal privilege” last Friday to honor the tragic death of 11-year-old Anna.

Watch what Don Coram said last Friday 3 Minutes.

Detective Dan Sperry’s 11-year-old daughter was killed by a motorist who failed to stop for his daughter’s school bus, an event that occurs dangerously and illegally in Colorado nearly 500,000 times per year. Stop Arm runner reduction is also addressed by SB22-85.

The survey points to a crisis that will keep the state on track to experience over 300 school bus related accidents this, and every, school year unless legislative action is taken to pass the Colorado Safe Student Protection Program (SB22-085).

Nevertheless, some (as yet) unnamed lawmakers do not think student safety is a priority and seek to amend a bill that costs pennies of taxpayer dollars followed by the potential of millions of dollars of corporately funded support.

Ward Leber, founder of the 32-year-old national Child Safety Network said: “Colorado does not have a lack of funds to use as an accuse to avoid funding the most comprehensive student safety bill ever introduced. Instead, it has a multi-billion-dollar budget surplus and the passage of Senate bill 85 is all about priorities.”

Survey Results: 59 school districts responded to the survey in less than 24 hours. Statewide, 74.1% of school districts consider the current school bus driver shortage that SB22-085 would help resolve to be a “Crisis”!

86.2% of school districts stated that they do not currently have enough drivers to operate at 100% capacity, serving all targeted students safely. SB22-085 also addresses both the safety and security aspects of this issue.

In relation to the current transportation shortage, 60.4% of parents are either “very unhappy” and/or “annoyed”. The bill’s Prime co-sponsor Rachel Zenzinger (Chair of Education) has been warning about this crisis since 2019.

David Hartzell, President of the Colorado State Pupil Transportation Association (CSPTA), said today:
“Speaking on behalf of our over 170 active schools and school districts, we all stand in favor of, and wholeheartedly support the goals and mission of the Safe Student Protection Program.”

The CSPTA collaborates with charter, private and other schools that use school buses as the safest way to transport students to and from their school sites.”

Hartzell is one of the 17 experts that testified in favor of the Safe Student Protection Program on the 15th of last month because it is designed to prevent tragedies like the one that Anna’s family and her entire community is now suffering through.

Listen to all testimony provided to the State of Colorado in favor of The Safe Student Protection Program

Transportation Director of the Year (nationally), Jefferson County’s own Greg Jackson, said during the same testimony in regard to SB22-085: “I believe we have the best chance in any of our lifetimes to make a generational investment in pupil transportation that will help us meet our state's school district's most pressing challenges today, and create a stronger future for decades to come.”

Watch the history of THE SAFE STUDENT PROTECTION PROGRAM - 10 minutes.

What can you do to help? Call and e-mail your representative to make certain they vote yes on Student Safety bill SB22-085

Contacts: Volunteer@CSN.org Angela 800-906-6901 Ext. 10

Statistics used to promote passage of SB22-085 were gathered from U.S. Department of Transportation, Colorado State Department of Education, The Child Safety Network, NHTSA, Colorado State Pupil Transportation Association, National Association of Pupil Transportation, Colorado Association of School Boards, National PTA, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Senate, and many more. No associations or endorsements are expressed or implied. Trademarks and copyrights are the property of their original owners. Not intended for broadcast. Copyright 2022 Child Safety Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Special Thanks: House Prime Co-Sponsors Barbara McLachlan (Chair of Education) and Marc Catlin (Member Transportation Committee), KCNC 4 News, KKTV 11 News, KUSA 9 News, KRON 4 News, WCNC 36 News, WHAS 11 News, KREX 5 News, CTV News Vancouver, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, The Colorado Channel

WARD LEBER
Child Safety Network
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