Jayden Hawkins

Following the deaths of at least two Kentucky students who were hit by school buses last year, state Rep. Jim DeCesare wants to promote bus safety with a resolution to be considered by the General Assembly in 2016. 

“I applaud his efforts,” said Superintendent Scott Howard of Butler County Schools, where a 5-year-old boy died after being struck by a bus last year. “Anything we can do to be safer is a good thing.”

Jayden Hawkins, a kindergarten student in Butler County, was killed in September after exiting the bus in front of his grandmother’s home, according to Kentucky State Police Post 3 spokesman Trooper B.J. Eaton. 

Janine Dockery, 54, of Morgantown, was driving the bus at the time, according to a KSP news release. The 18-year veteran of the district was placed on paid leave pending an investigation, Howard told the Daily News in September last year.

Howard told the Daily News on Thursday that Dockery remains on paid leave and that the investigation into the accident continues. 

In March, a 10-year-old boy who survived cancer was hit and killed by a school bus in Whitley County, according to a report by WAVE 3 News in Louisville.

DeCesare, a Bowling Green Republican, pre-filed Bill Request 356 to encourage education and training for school bus safety. DeCesare was unavailable for comment on the resolution. 

The resolution reads that “getting to and from a bus is more dangerous than riding a bus, with the greatest risk of fatalities occurring in the loading zones.” 

It encourages the Kentucky Center for School Safety to provide further support to school districts “through distribution of materials that are specifically geared to young students who ride schools buses, such as videos or handouts for young students and parents.” 

Other sections encourage the Kentucky Department of Education to provide further training to districts and their bus drivers and ask the Kentucky School Boards Association to provide model policies to school districts “to ensure greater safety for younger students while boarding and disembarking from school buses.” 

— Follow WKU, education and general assignment reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter at twitter.com/aaron_muddbgdn or visit bgdailynews.com.