RALEIGH-- During the school year, Wake County has 900 buses driving students to and from school, and many routes are during some of the busiest times of day.
So in order to keep kids as safe as possible, the Wake County School District is implementing a new boarding process.
This school year, students will look for a different cue when it's time for them to board the bus.
In the past, the stop sign would deploy at the same time the doors opened, even some of the youngest students noticed the challenges.
"I see kids running towards the bus sometimes before the bar guard goes,” Saul Morrugares a student.
Now the school district is taking a multi-step approach.
They've added a switch to the control which breaks down the boarding process.
First, they stop traffic when the stop sign opens, then they deploy the crossing arm, as the doors open.
“I’ve had a couple of close calls where the kids want to run across and I have to remind them wait until all the traffic has stopped because a lot of cars don’t stop they don’t stop for the stop sign,” said Tiffany Hinton, WCPSS bus driver.
It's just another step in an ongoing process to keep kids safe.