Every year, bus drivers are charged with the safety and wellbeing of every student that climbs the steps and takes a seat on their bus as they transport them back and forth to home and school everyday. Part of that charge comes with knowing what to do if the safety of the students or driver is compromised, be it an irate parent or ‘suspicious package? left on the bus.
To help drivers and transportation departments understand how to handle these different scenarios, Oakland Schools teamed up with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) and held a ‘Critical Incident Training Program? on July 30 for districts in Oakland County. Seven members of Oxford School’s Transportation Department attended the training, according to Transportation Supervisor Ann Weeden.
‘It was excellent training. It was very good and very informative, without the gloom and doom of terrorist activities,? Weeden said. ‘They didn’t put it in that kind of fashion.?
They started the day talking about the 2013 incident in Alabama where a bus driver was shot after refusing to give a gunman two students on the bus, but did end up taking one of the students as hostage after the shooting.
Weeden said they were told that the shooter had befriended the driver and even had made modifications to his driveway so the bus could turn around and then one day he showed up with a gun.
‘It makes people realize that it can happen and you don’t always know who that person is going to be or what they look like,? she added. ?(The story was an example to) make you more aware of your surroundings and allowing persons on the bus other than your students and stuff like that.?
Weeden said they covered several different scenarios which included angry parents, or a possible student looking to do a movie theatre or Columbine style shooting. Transportation staff got to play the parts of drivers and passengers on the bus.
‘They kind of covered the whole range of things that could happen,? she said. ‘Be it a student, a parent or somebody looking to make a big splash.?
Part of that ‘big splash? could just be destruction of property, Weeden said.
‘Different school districts have different situations. Usually it’s kids that come in and do destruction to buses and stuff, which could be (fixed with) something as simple as a little bit more lighting or more security in the facility to stop somebody from planting a package on a bus or doing harm to it or whatever.?
Because drivers for the most part take the same routes everyday, Weeden said they are familiar with their surrounding.
‘We’re there in the mornings. We’re there in the afternoons. We kind of know what cars are there and the same people pretty much pass us going to work,? she said. ‘Things are different but they’re also very similar day after day after day.?
Weeden noted that they have had drivers who have called or radioed in about vehicles being ‘parked out of place.?
‘We’re sometimes that first person who thinks ‘this doesn’t look right,? she added. ‘We were informed that anytime we make a phone call to the Oakland County Sheriff’s (Office), (they) do (a) follow-up on it. We may not hear back any feedback on it, but they do look into a situation or a suspicious vehicle or something (if we call).?
Weeden also said that a couple of her staff members stayed after the event to get extra training on ways to bring what they had learned back to individual districts and transportation department to include all staff. Drivers will be coming back in late August to do runs and at that time Weeden said they’ll set up an in-service day so they can present the information to everyone to get everybody up to speed and on the same page.
‘They did provide us with a power-point presentation that we can use to bring back to the staff to touch on everything,? she said. ‘It seems like a lot of times over the years they (have) concentrated on school buildings (for security issues against) bomb threats and things like that, but they don’t always consider the school buses as a possible extension of that, (so I was glad they put some emphasis on that).?
‘I was very pleased with the training session,? Weeden added. ‘I think Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and Oakland Schools did a fantastic job.?