Many children who attend Norman Public Schools use a school bus to attend their school. The school bus is supposed to be a safe transportation method for students, without any risk of harm or injury. Even with this goal in mind, many districts still have many issues regarding school buses. There were about 1,100 fatal school-transportation-related crashes per year on average between 2013 and 2022. 

According to the information collected by Jenni Bergal (reporter for Stateline), throughout the United States, more than 1,620 schoolchildren in 38 states have been put in danger from 2015 to 2020 by bus drivers arrested or cited for allegedly driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs.

During the 2019 to 2020 school year,  77 % of public schools recorded that one or more incidents of student crime had taken place, amounting to 1.4 million incidents. This translates to a rate of 29 incidents per 1,000 students enrolled in 2019 through 2020 alone, as recorded for the United States government. 

Some changes could improve the system:

A proper seatbelt system for a start. Every bus should have functioning seatbelts on every seat. Think of the Minco bus crash just 2 days ago (9/9/2025).

The name of the bus driver should be made clear to each passenger, like wearing an ID badge. Students should be informed that they can safely report any concerns about a bus driver’s behavior, driving, or safety. There should be skills checks and training offered each semester. 

There should, of course, be a lot more bus drivers. The job of a bus driver should be a desirable and quality job, although it is a difficult one. To compensate for this, a much higher pay would be effective to draw in more potential bus drivers, as the national average is $20 per hour, and Oklahoma is 34% below the national average, according to Indeed's information.