State Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, who represents Farmingdale, Massapequa, and several other south shore communities, made some strides this week in his efforts to get tougher measures for keeping our children safe on school buses.

Fuschillo (8th Senate District, Merrick) reported Monday that the Senate has passed a package of 14 bills, two of which he put forth, to provide greater protection on the buses. The consensus in Albany followed a public forum hosted by Fuschillo on Long Island, which elicited much testimony from residents in his district who support tougher regulations.

"I'm delighted obviously, that we took it up in an expeditious manner. I just hope the Assembly takes it up as well," he said in a telephone interview from the Senate chambers immediately following passage of the package. "And as soon as we get these bills on the law books of New York State, the greater safety we will provide to the more than 2.2 million children that travel on school buses every day."

The package includes the following: criminal background checks on school bus attendants, requiring buses transporting disabled children to maintain personal records of each child in the case of an emergency, requiring a breathalyzer test for a school bus driver or any other operator of a vehicle who is involved in an accident with a school bus, creates penalties for an unauthorized boarding of a school bus, requires school bus drivers to examine the bus at the end of each route to ensure all children have disembarked, requires the study of seat belts on buses, and requires that all passengers are seated on a school bus.

According to Fuschillo, the package of bills is part of a movement for greater school bus safety measures that he will continue to be a part of. "In 1998, there were 459 accidents relating to school buses, and more than 600 children were injured. When I hear these statistics, it drives me to try to be proactive and put forth new laws that protect kids," he said.

The issue of children accidentally being left on the bus, apparently due to the driver's failure to check that all passengers have departed the vehicle upon arrival at school, also is a concern. One recent example during this school year occurred when an elementary school student in the Levittown School District was left on a bus, and was not discovered until a driver from the Plainedge School district found the child crying at the bus depot.

Last year, the Senate passed a package of nine bills to improve safety conditions for children on school buses. That program was stalled in the Assembly. This year, Fuschillo is making another attempt to get tougher bus safety measures on the books.

"It's increased, obviously, to 14," he said of the new package. "And we have done some amendments to the bills. And I've been working with the Democratic majority in the Assembly, trying to negotiate with them to take the bills up."

He added, "I've been meeting with members of the Assembly during the year, to work with them, and find out if they had any questions, concerns, comments, and why they weren't taking it up. And I hope this year, they will take it up." Fuschillo believes that most of the bills in the package have the support of the governor.

"The bottom line is that parents deserve confidence in knowing that their children are going to be safe from the moment they step on the bus to the moment they return home. And I believe this legislation is going to be a a step in the right direction," the senator said.