A spokesperson from the Kansas State Department of Education's School Bus Safety Education Unit confirmed that 13 students were killed during the 2009-2010 school year in the loading and unloading zone compared to 18 in 2008-2009.

The preliminary data was announced today. The full report was expected to be completed over the next week. The survey is compiled annually by all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

The majority of students fatalities last school year occurred at the front position of the school bus or at the hands of other motorists who illegally passed stopped school buses, a KSDE representative said shortly after the new year. Six students died after being struck by the front of their school bus, up two from the previous year. Five students were killed by illegal passers, a figure that matched the national average over the past five years.

The industry did see an improvement in rear-end fatalities as the survey found that two children were killed compared to seven during 2008-2009. Seven students were reported to have been killed at the rear of school buses, either after chasing the school bus or slipping underneath the rear wheels when the bus pulled into loading zone.