Whitko Schools have three new, up-to-date school busses. (Photos provided)

A closeup shows some of the new LED lights featured on the busses.

SOUTH WHITLEY — Bright, shiny and new, Whitko has some additions to the school bus fleet this week.

School buses 16A, 16B and 16C demonstrate the school’s commitment to excellence and safety for its students and staff.

LED lights, duel front and rear stop lights, on-board cameras, parking break alerts, windshields with increased visibility for the driver and a child reminder system are just a few of the new features boasted by the new buses delivered on Wednesday to the school.

The child reminder system prevents students from being left on the bus by forcing the driver to inspect all seats for children. Before the driver can exit, they must release a safety button at the rear of the bus as a confirmation that no children are on the bus.

Bus 16A, the new stub-nosed bus, houses an undercarriage. This feature eliminates the need for sports teams to require a chase vehicle that was often used to carry excess equipment and luggage.

A representative who delivered the buses to the bus shop in South Whitley confirmed these buses create clean air through their exhaust emissions.

School buses typically have a life expectancy of about 12 years and Mike Sands plans to get all the mileage out of these new buses that he can. His expertise in managing the Whitko fleet is second to none with his decades of experience. He plans to rotate each bus through various routes to insure an even distribution of the workload across all of Whitko’s schools.