Mass. district equips all buses with lap-shoulder belts

WESTFIELD, Ind. — In May, Waltham Public Schools’ (WPS) School Committee unanimously decided to equip its entire school bus fleet with lap-shoulder belts, and IMMI has now completed installation of its SafeGuard seating products on all of the buses.

WPS’ decision to equip its fleet of school buses with lap-shoulder belts is the first district-wide move in Massachusetts history, officials said.

For over two years, the Waltham4Seatbelts grassroots group, with the support of Waltham Fire Chief Richard Cardillo, worked to educate the Waltham School Committee on the benefits and expected costs of adding lap-shoulder belts to WPS buses.

After more than 800 Waltham residents signed a petition requesting that the Waltham School Committee add language to its request for bids school bus contract that included a requirement to equip buses with lap-shoulder belts, the committee unanimously voted to outfit its subsequent school bus fleet with lap-shoulder belts.

Illinois Central School Bus, which was eventually awarded the transportation contract and named the district’s new fleet provider, selected IMMI to install SafeGuard seats on its new Thomas Built school buses and to train school personnel, students and drivers on the use and care of the new seats.

“We are very happy to see that all our hard work has resulted in Waltham offering the safest possible transportation for our children to get to and from school every day, and especially for the long highway travel typically associated with field trips and sporting and club travel,” said Rachel Learned, Waltham4Seatbelts founder. “It’s reassuring to the parents on our committee, as well as the hundreds of parents we formally represent that our children will now climb onto buses equipped with lap and shoulder belts. We’re grateful to the school committee, the school superintendent, our fire chief and all those who saw the need for enhancing bus safety for all passengers.”

“We’re excited to be a part of this unprecedented move in the New England area to equip buses with lap and shoulder seating,” added Charlie Vits, IMMI’s market development manager of sales. “Because our SafeGuard seating provides both compartmentalization and lap-shoulder protection, we’re confident that we’ll be able to satisfy Waltham’s interest in safety for belted bus passengers.”

For more information on the Waltham4Seatbelts group, visit www.waltham4seatbelts.org. For more information on IMMI and its line of SafeGuard seating products, visit www.imminet.com or www.safeguardseat.com.