GO2 Case Study: Spring ISD

“I’m really into standardization,” says Brian Weisinger, the forward-thinking Director of Transportation for the Spring Independent School District, a 36,000-student pre-K–12 system 20 miles north of downtown Houston, Texas. “I try to standardize everywhere we can because of training and ease of operation.”

A key area in which Weisinger’s team has realized those benefits of standardization is in the systems for assuring the safety of special needs students, especially systems for securing wheelchairs and oxygen tanks. The solutions of choice: Sure-Lok retractors and the new GO2 adjustable cylinder holder.

Spring ISD’s move toward standardization began over a decade ago, when — during an operations review of the Special Needs division — Weisinger discovered the district was utilizing four completely different types of wheelchair tie down systems. Within a year, he had standardized the district on Sure-Lok retractors.

The advantages for Spring ISD were obvious: reduced parts inventory, less training time, fewer retraining sessions and, most importantly, less chance of an error that could risk the safety of the students. “When we have drivers or attendants go from one bus to another, they have the same product on every bus. So it doesn’t matter what bus you’re on, you know how to use it,” says Weisinger.

“There’s nothing good about transporting oxygen bottles on a special needs bus. That’s just a recipe for disaster…I have heard of drivers strapping them into seat belts, wrapping them up in towels, wrapping them down with a regular seat belt. I’ve heard of them putting them in little plastic bins or overhead compartments.”

Because the transportation department is always looking for innovative ways to do things better, for new buses and system replacement Spring ISD now specifies the even more efficient and secure Sure-Lok Titan retractors. Instead of two-handed release and pull, the auto-locking Titan requires only one-handed operation, with an S-hook providing quick attachment to a welded frame member of the wheelchair. Says Weisinger, “If somebody should make a mistake not tightening it up enough it will self adjust. That’s comforting.”

Another area in which Spring ISD was looking for innovation was in proper securement of O2 bottles required by some student passengers. “There’s nothing good about transporting oxygen bottles on a special needs bus. That’s just a recipe for disaster,” says Weisinger. “I have heard of drivers strapping them into seat belts, wrapping them up in towels, wrapping them down with a regular seat belt. I’ve heard of them putting them in little plastic bins or overhead compartments.”

When Weisinger learned about the GO2 tank holder that attaches quickly and securely to standard floor tracks whenever needed, the Spring ISD became one of the first districts to adopt the new solution. “I saw so many benefits from it, and the fact that you can add different implements to it makes it a really versatile tool,” he says. “We use it day-to-day. In fact, I ordered another. So I have two in case we should get another student needing it.”