INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS: SPECIAL REPORT
HOW SCHOOL DISTRICTS COUNSEL STUDENTS, DRIVERS AND
TRAGEDY
TRANSPORTATION STAFF AFTER TRAUMATIC EVENTS … AND GET
THEM BACK ON THE BUS
WRITTEN BY SYLVIA ARROYO
SYLVIA@STNONLINE.COM
COPING WITH
seling on a small and large scale for students and district employees, including those in transportation. Districts that have experienced a major incident call on crisis teams to provide one- on-one grief counseling and psychological services to those who need it the most, sometimes even community members. For example, experts from two larger
A
school districts were provided to the Kuna School District in Idaho after a Dec. 5 school bus accident there resulted in the death of 11-year-old Daniel Cook and injuries to four other students. An investigation was ongoing at this
writing, and the female bus driver had neither spoken publicly about the accident nor returned to her route, pending the in- vestigation results. Tough the driver wasn’t physically injured, paramedics said they transported her to the hospital for emotional distress. Te Idaho Statesman reported that district officials said the driver had been receiving support from her family and “has a long road ahead of her.” Hours after the accident, which took
place on a Tursday, the crisis teams arrived at the elementary school to counsel stu- dents, teachers, bus drivers and other district employees impacted by the crash. Te teams also spent all day Friday at Kuna schools.
34 School Transportation News January 2014
number of headline-triggering incidents unfolded last year that prompted school districts to provide crisis intervention coun-
Te following week the district arranged
for teams of therapy dogs and handlers to visit Cook’s grieving classmates. District officials sent the therapy dogs to school after facing the pressing challenge of getting ner- vous and resistant students back on the bus. A few months before the Idaho incident,
the Rowan-Salisbury School System in North Carolina called in a crisis interven- tion team after a motorist fatally struck a high school boy as he was walking from his home toward his waiting school bus. Te illegally passing motorist, driving on the opposite side of the road, failed to stop when the school bus activated its flashing red lights and stop arm. About 20 student passengers and the school bus driver wit- nessed the event. After the accident, students were trans-
ported to West Rowan High School, and crisis intervention counselors were ready to help them by 8 a.m., said Carol Ann Houpe, director of student services for the school district. She’s also in charge of the crisis intervention team, which consists of two licensed professional counselors who lead a team to provide general support to the counselors assigned to each school within the system, as well as support to students and district personnel during major tragedies. She said the crisis team was at the high
school for two entire days. “With high school students, we find that
they like to comfort one another, so we had small groups of students who had different
relationships with the student who passed away,” she explained. “Tere was a lot of re- membering, bringing up stories and making posters and cards.” As with the bus driver who witnessed the
accident, Houpe spoke in general terms, and noted that regardless of the situation, the crisis team’s job is to think about the type of support any staff member might need. If a student or staff member needs more in- depth counseling than what her team can provide, she will provide him or her with referrals to local mental health agencies. Tis even applies to, for example, parents of students and others in the community who might also be affected by the tragedy. “We have resources in this county, so we
try to look at how we can provide support,” she added. “We initially contact people, check in with them to see how things are going, and then make referrals if need be.” Judy Burris, the school system’s transpor-
tation director, said her role during times like these is to conduct a thorough investi- gation that would include speaking one-on- one with any and all of her staff who may be involved in a particular incident. “I can then make my assessment of the best way to proceed in providing the help and assistance they may need,” she explained. An important part of her assessment
is working closely with Houpe’s crisis intervention team. She follows all recom- mendations, and then they work together to prepare a plan for individual staff needs.
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