via Wkyc:
Beachwood City Council passed historic legislation Monday that requires seat beats on all new school buses, and allotted $250,000 of city funds to pay for the equipment.
The city is believed to be the first in Ohio to pass legislation requiring 3-point, lap-shoulder safety belts on school buses.
The idea for the legislation came from 8-and-9-year-old third graders at Hilltop Elementary School. More than a dozen students attended the council meeting Monday night for a real-life social studies lesson, as they watched their idea become a city law.
The council vote was unanimous.
Beachwood Superintendent, Dr. Robert Hardis says, “Our third grade social studies teacher invited city council members into her classroom and they asked the question of our third graders: What would be a piece of legislation that would be really important to benefiting our community? This was the idea.”
Currently, there are no federal guidelines or state laws that require seat belts on school buses. For years, school districts have relied on compartmentalization to keep kids safe, by having high seat backs and fronts to contain kids in the event of a crash. Critics of seat belts believe that they make it tougher to evacuate children from a school bus in an accident.
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LOCAL NEWS: City of Beachwood To Add Seat Belts To School Buses was originally published on praisecleveland.com
