§ 1310.21 - Safety education.

(a) Each agency must provide training for parents and children in pedestrian safety. The training provided to children must be developmentally appropriate and an integral part of program experiences. The need for an adult to accompany a preschool child while crossing the street must be emphasized in the training provided to parents and children. The required transportation and pedestrian safety education of children and parents, except for the bus evacuation drills required by paragraph (d) of this section, must be provided within the first thirty days of the program year.

(b) Each agency providing transportation services, directly or through another organization or an individual, must ensure that children who receive such services are taught:

(1) safe riding practices;

(2) safety procedures for boarding and leaving the vehicle;

(3) safety procedures in crossing the street to and from the vehicle at stops;

(4) recognition of the danger zones around the vehicle; and

(5) emergency evacuation procedures, including participating in an emergency evacuation drill conducted on the vehicle the child will be riding.

(c) Each agency providing transportation services must provide training for parents that:

(1) emphasizes the importance of escorting their children to the vehicle stop and the importance of reinforcing the training provided to children regarding vehicle safety; and

(2) complements the training provided to their children so that safety practices can be reinforced both in Head Start and at home by the parent.

(d) Each agency providing transportation services must ensure that at least two bus evacuation drills in addition to the one required under paragraph (b)(5) of this section are conducted during the program year.

(e) Each agency providing transportation services must develop activities to remind children of the safety procedures. These activities must be developmentally appropriate, individualized and be an integral part of the Head Start or Early Head Start program activities.