DRIVING THE INDUSTRY SINCE 1991


“Should future relapses occur for one of my staff members, I would work with that individual to be sure he or she receives the care needed,” Burris added. Tis process of offering grief counseling


is very similar to what occurred after the tragedy last January in Midland, Ala., that resulted in the murder of school bus driver Charles Poland, Jr., and the kidnapping of a student with special needs. Donny Bynum, superintendent of Dale


County Schools, said trauma intervention began the night of the incident. Te first round of counseling for student passengers, their parents and relatives began two days later in a private meeting. He added that the counselors also met with him, administrative staff and school counselors to form a plan on how to assess warning signs seen from students and others in the community. Additionally, the district’s bus drivers received counseling. “We wanted to make sure that whatever


we used would be the best for our children and our employees,” he said. Beyond the initial counseling, Bynum said


the district needed to find a local agency to provide more in-depth counseling services. “We were bombarded with counseling


agencies…I was just dumbfounded at the number of emails and contacts. We didn’t know which way to turn,” he recalled. Eventually the local district attorney’s office and the FBI directed Bynum to the Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center, an agency with an extensive background in crisis and trauma counseling. Sheryl Walker, the center’s executive


director, said one of the first main goals was preparing a safe place for the kidnapped boy, Ethan, once he was rescued. But her concern didn’t stop there. On the Saturday following the incident, she met with Bynum and law enforcement officials at the crime scene. “I knew Ethan would have all the services


he’d need, so we then moved on (to the oth- er) students. We starting working on a plan when the kids returned and had counselors on staff to answer questions,” she said. From a few days after the incident until


last month, the children, their parents and relatives received differing levels of coun- seling, from group to one-on-one sessions. Troughout the summer the agency orga- nized family-related activities with the goal of returning normalcy back into the victims’ lives while they also learned coping skills. Tese children experienced extreme


trauma during the shooting and kidnapping, including having to walk over Poland’s body


to exit the bus. Plus, Walker noted, “some of these children already had difficult situations going on in their lives even before this event.” She noted that the agency also offered


in-service counseling to teachers and other students, as well as school bus drivers. Bynum said the counselors stressed to him immediately following the incident exactly what to look for in staff members in case they needed help. And, counselors also fo- cused on the bus drivers whose routes were located in an area similar to Poland’s. “Tey were a tight-knit group,” Bynum


said. “We had some tough times with some of them. Tey received counseling, and it’s made a difference.” He added that further counseling for bus drivers has been minimal, but continues to be available for them if they need it.


LASTING EFFECTS Transportation directors play a vital role


during traumatic events because they can be the glue that helps hold their staff togeth- er. But managers and supervisors need to grieve just as much as anyone else. For Mi- chael Dallessandro, transportation director for Geneseo Central School District and Livonia Central School District in New York, it’s been six years since he experienced the death of an employee while working for another school district. But he remembers every detail as if it happened yesterday. On a cold, rainy and dark December


morning in 2007, one of his most experi- enced school bus drivers, Brenda, was fatally struck by a school bus being driven by a mechanic in the bus yard. Te mechanic was on his way to service the bus when Brenda walked out in front. A lot happened after the accident, in-


cluding emotional ups and downs for both transportation staff and students. To this day, Dallessandro still wrestles with a lot of the feelings from that day. He even has a photo of Brenda in his office, and continues to lecture about the accident and its learning lessons. Everything which happened that day has shaped what he does as a department manager. “As transportation directors, you don’t


realize how quickly stuff like that unfolds and how your decisions are so critical,” he explained. “Tere’s no textbook.” 


Visit www.stnonline.com/home/web-exclusive for details on the counseling services provided to Dale County Schools students who were passengers on Poland's bus.


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