Expect changes if your students ride the school bus in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Among the many challenges school districts are learning to adapt to during the coronavirus pandemic, riding the school bus is coming with new procedures.

In all districts across Colorado Springs, students are now required to wear masks on the bus, undergo health screenings before getting onboard, and sit in a seat alone, or with their siblings.

"Our first priority was making sure we could transport students safely so we worked with cleaning and sanitizing the bus," Summer Earthson, Transportation Specialist with District 11 said.

Other changes include less bus stops in one single area.

"We have fewer stops so the busses have a reduced capacity. We cannot fit as many students on the bus with their distancing," she said.

Eric Lance, Operations Manager for Widefield School District 3 echoed the concern.

"Our biggest concern is bus capacity and that's something we looked at very closely in how we could most effectively put students on a bus in a safe manner," he explained.

In addition to mask-wearing, students will load the bus from back to front, so there's less passing in the aisles.

Other rules include:

• Taking attendance to allow for contact tracing if necessary
• Students will be assigned seats. Family members will share seats.
• Parents will be expected to take their child’s temperature and do a wellness screening before leaving the house and to withhold an ill student from attending school.
• Bus windows will be open at all times as weather permits. If the weather does not permit, hatch fans, when applicable, will be ‘on’ during routes.
• Buses will be cleaned three times per day (after morning routes, after midday routes, and after afternoon routes)

While some districts vary on their sanitation times, and disinfectants, all have laid out plans in their "Return to school" guidelines.