Parking Lot Safety After Pelican Rapids Accident
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An elementary school boy is recovering after a school bus ran over his legs as he got off a bus in Pelican Rapids Wednesday. He tripped and another bus that was coming to park ran over his legs. Most local school have specific parking lot safety guidelines to avoid an accident like this from happening including Oak Grove Lutheran Elementary School.
Parent Angela Bagan likes what Oak Grove Lutheran Elementary School does to keep her child safe.
“This is my fourth child. I’ve gone through this before at other schools like West Fargo and this is much better,” Bagan says.
With nearly 200 students, Oak Grove elementary had to develop a strategy that would prevent accidents.
“The students will get called out, they’ll go wait on the sidewalk for parents to stop and then once the parents are stopped they’ll start sending students to stopped cars, maybe four, five, six at a time,” explains Josh Kading, school principal.
The parking lot remains student-free.
“All the students sit in the gym and we actually have teachers that go out and patrol. They have a walkie talkie with them and as the parents drive through the line, they’ll look in and radio into us who’s here to pick up,” Kading says.
Most Oak Grove students don’t take the bus but for those that do, the school has strict protocol.
“The bus drivers actually come in and get the kids so they walk out with the students and they make sure that they’re all loaded up so that way the buses aren’t moving,” says Kading.
While Oak Grove’s safety system can be time consuming, parents say it’s worth the wait.
“We’ve been here for five years now so, I’ve never felt like there’s ever been any safety concerns at all,” says Jenae Jung, a school parent.
“The kids don’t wander out into a parking lot full of traffic,” Bagan says.
Oak Grove parents like Bagan agree, safety is the number one priority. The Pelican Rapids boy was taken to the hospital. According to police he is doing well.
