FIRST TAKE


School Transportation News Magazine is published by STN Media Group


WHAT IS SCHOOL BUS SECURITY?


WRITTEN BY RYAN GRAY Te word conjures up different meanings for different


people. When I was little, security was tangible, as in the tattered, yellow “blanky” that survived from my crib to my “big boy” bed, or until I was about 5 years old. My parents also provided the comfort of security. I’ll


never forget attending a Major League Baseball game at the ripe age of about 12, when following the last out of the game I became separated from my mom and the rest of our party. I tried to remain cool, calm and collected, especially as I was a pre-teen (and there were girls around). But I was scared. Only after a police officer took me to Lost and Found and reunited me with my mother did I feel once again secure, granted very teary eyed. As we all have gotten older, and especially in a post-9/11


world, security has taken on an entirely different meaning. Security is defined as “the state of being free from danger or threat.” While it can be synonymous with safety, a hallmark of the student transportation industry and the American yellow school bus, security conjures up the notion of being protected by the federal or state government, police and, yes the school bus. With this in mind, we start 2013 with a new security


focus in this month’s magazine edition. Last year when de- veloping our editorial calendar, we at STN decided to sepa- rate security from safety, which continues to be the focus of our May edition, as a way to better address ongoing efforts by TSA to improve the security of the national school bus fleet, such as through the First Observer program (though that has since been placed on hold) and the new Highway BASE that has succeeded Corporate Security Reviews. See the related article on page 21. As an extension of this, we also wanted to cover how


school districts are protecting their transportation yards from unauthorized visitors, who may have sinister designs on stealing school buses for scrap metal or much more nefarious reasons. Ten there is the emergence of technol- ogy that tracks students on and off school buses to not only assure parents of their child’s locations, but also that only authorized students are allowed onto the bus. In reading these articles, ask yourself and your associates the following question: Just how “secure” are our operations?


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Publisher Tony Corpin


Editor Ryan Gray


Managing Editor Sylvia Arroyo


Creative Director Vincent Rios


Senior Designer Kimber Horne


Graphic Design Maria Molina


Copy Editor Michelle Fisher


CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Linda Bluth, Peggy Burns, Michelle Fisher, John Whelan, Dick Fischer, Denny Coughlin, Ned Einstein, Glen Moyer, Art Gissendaner, Anson Stewart, Shanna Thompson Zareski, Eric Woolson


Vice President Colette Paul


Ad Sales Tony Corpin


Circulation Andrea Hernandez


Marketing Coordinator Diana O'Meara


Chairman of the Board Bill Paul, STN Media Group


EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD:


Denny Coughlin, Consultant; Judith Dupille, Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles; Dick Fischer, Trans-Consult; Ron Love, Delaware DOE; Randy McLerran, National Bus Sales; Pete Meslin, Newport-Mesa Unified; Nancy Netherland, Migrant- Seasonal Head Start; Marshall Casey, Consultant; Alexandra Robinson, NAPT; Launi Schmutz, Washington County


Schools


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8 School Transportation News January 2013


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