This week's safe schools snippets

School bus accidents in the news: Are your children safe?

Three separate school bus accidents on Monday – in Indiana, Washington State, and Ohio — have left a student and a bus driver dead, and scores of students injured, some critically. The three crashes have fueled concerns about school bus safety.

In the Indiana accident, the bus was mangled when the driver hit an overpass without braking. In Washington, the bus rolled over after it veered off the road. In Ohio, the bus tipped and then rolled over onto its right side into a ditch. Read more from the Huffington Post.

Bullied teen’s family get payout over death

The family of a teenage boy who committed suicide following months of violent school bullying are hoping to finally ”put him to rest” after the NSW Education Department agreed to a six-figure civil settlement.

The mother of Alex Wildman, 14, said she felt ”relieved and vindicated” after lawyers for the department told the Downing Centre District Court they had agreed to settle the family’s damages claim yesterday.

”I don’t want Alex’s death to be in vain,” Justine Kelly said. Read more from The Sydney Morning Herald.

Aurora students receive free bike helmets from CU Hospital

AURORA, Colo. — Our warmer weather has many kids getting out their bikes and hitting the road.

Safety experts say parents need to make sure they have one key piece of equipment: a helmet.

Thanks to the University of Colorado Hospital, students at Fletcher Primary School in Aurora will be well armed against injury after receiving a lesson in safety from medical school students. Read more from Fox 31 Denver.

School choice increases student safety

A newly released report by David Deming, assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School for Education, shows that school choice doesn’t just foster academic improvement and increased graduation rates—students are also safer. Read more from The Foundry.

“Bully” documentary could hit theaters without rating

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new documentary film about bullying set for theaters this month could come out unrated after objections from teenaged victims, celebrities, members of Congress and others over its restrictive rating by a Hollywood studio group.

The head of the Motion Picture Association of America said on Thursday there were several options to get around the “R” rating that would prevent people under 17-year-old from seeing the film in the United States without a parent, including releasing it without a rating. Read more from the Chicago Tribune.

‘Bullying’ teacher loses his license

A former Reynoldsburg teacher who bullied and harassed students lost his right to teach in Ohio yesterday.

The State Board of Education voted 18-0 to strip David M. North of his teaching license. He didn’t fight the revocation.

North, 32, taught junior-high English in Reynoldsburg from 2005 until he resigned last summer. He also was president of the Reynoldsburg Education Association, the teachers’ union, in 2009. Read more from the Columbus Dispatch.

About our First Person series:

First Person is where Chalkbeat features personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others trying to improve public education. Read our submission guidelines here.