CHEYENNE -- A fifth-grade student at Sagewood Elementary School in Casper is the inspiration for a bill to require seats belts on school buses, according to a Natrona County legislator.

After a mock legislative session at the school, Sen. Kit Jennings asked the class what law needs to be passed in Wyoming. A girl in the back of the room raised her hand and said she believes seat belts are needed on school buses, Jennings said.

She said her mother always makes her buckle up in the family car, and she doesn't feel safe on a school bus because there are no seat belts.

Jennings said all but two students in the class agreed in a show of hands.

Prompted by that experience, Jennings is sponsoring a bill in the coming legislative session that would require seat belts on new buses.

Jennings, a Casper Republican, said in the past a school transportation official at the Wyoming Department of Education testified seat belts aren't of much use. National experts agreed at the time on grounds the school buses are built for safety, he said.

The school bus seat belt issue has not been before the Legislature in many years.

"It's something I've always thought we needed. To be honest, I didn't look into it that much as to why we didn't have them," Jennings said.

Jennings said the federal government has an enormous manual on seat belts on school buses, which suggests the federal government will require them eventually.

Senate File 52 would require seat belts only on new buses purchased by school districts, he said.

"It would not be fiscally responsible to require retrofitting of 1,800 school buses," Jennings said.

The requirement, however, would add to the cost of school buses, which is covered through the state School Foundation Program.

For a number of years, national transportation directors held the position that seat belts on school buses are not necessary because of the construction of the buses, said Mary Kay Hill of the Wyoming Department of Education.

"They still believe the construction of the buses is the first key to prevent injuries. But they have softened their stand as far as seats belts go," she added.

Given the research that seat belts could be useful and that children today are accustomed to buckling up, "We believe now that it could be an effective safety opportunity," Hill said.

The school districts, she said, have a regular schedule to replace school buses, so there would be some predictability about the cost.

If the bill gets through the Legislature, Jennings said he hopes the fifth-graders from Sagewood Elementary School can come to Cheyenne and watch Gov. Dave Freudenthal sign it into law.

He said he sent a copy of the bill in a bill jacket so the students can track its progress through the Legislature.

Contact Joan Barron at joan.barron@trib.com or by phone at 307-632-1244.