FIRST TAKE
Case in Point Regarding Due Diligence of School Bus Safety
WRITTEN BY RYAN GRAY |
RYAN@STNONLINE.COM A
bout a week after the suicide bombing at the Brussels airport, a report came out of Loudoun County, Virginia, that explosives were discovered in a school bus engine
compartment. You can imagine the thoughts that first came to mind. Ten I realized the date: April 1.
Tis couldn’t be a hoax, could it? Unfortunately, it was no April Fool’s joke. But
mercifully, a news article about the announcement made by the local sheriff’s office, the Loudoun County Public Schools and, wait for it, the CIA explained that the “combat-type explosive” was part of anti-terrorism training conducted the week prior. Te substance could not be detonated in the state it was in, we were told. First, I absorbed the fact that “Te Agency” was
involved, which can be enough to send shivers down one’s spine—the CIA actually issued its own press release on this incident, taking blame for the oversight, which indicated to me exactly how big of a public breakdown this was. But what troubled me even more was that the training concluded nearly a week before the material, albeit apparently innocuous, was discovered by district maintenance staff during a routine inspection. Ten there was the fact the bus had been in service for two days before the substance was noticed. Te sheriff’s office explained that it had borrowed the bus during the district’s spring break and kept the vehi- cle for several days before returning it. Te fact that the explosive-type material wasn’t discovered till the follow- ing Wednesday means that the bus was in route service when school began on Monday and again on Tuesday. In fact, the district said that the bus made eight runs that covered 145 miles as it transported 26 high school and elementary students back and forth to class. A district spokesman told me the technicians are ex-military and immediately identified the substance. Press releases also indicated that the material was placed in a container and near the engine, and that apparently at some point during the training, the con- tainer tipped over and spilled some of the contents. No other details were given, aside from a joint
12 School Transportation News • MAY 2016
statement from the district, sheriff’s office and CIA that similar security training was being suspended, pending a thorough review of protocols. Security and anti-terrorism expert Michael Dorn
of Safe Havens International told me that the basic, essential protocols for handling and recovering training material, which can include anything from explosives to weapons to drugs, dictates comprehensive, multiple sweeps of the area. We obviously don’t want a bag of heroin left in some student’s locker or bullet casings in a hallway, he reasoned. He also indicated surprise that three CIA K-9 dogs failed to detect the material. Te point is, mistakes happen, even for experts. But,
more so, errors made with regard to safety and security can have disastrous, even deadly results. Luckily, that wasn’t the case in Loudoun County, but valuable les- sons can and should be learned.
While stating that he holds the district in no way
responsible for the oversight, that in reality the blame lays squarely on a failing of security protocol and on-scene incident management, he added that the ex- perience should remind us all of the power of pre- and post-trip inspections, especially when an authorized third party takes possession of a bus. While it was the ultimate responsibility of law en-
forcement to sweep the bus with a fine-toothed comb, and spring break complicated matters for returning school staff, he recommended that anytime school bus operators lend a vehicle to law enforcement for routine training that a follow-up inspection by district staff be performed before the bus is returned to service. In this case, Loudoun County staff just didn’t know what they were looking for until happening upon it days later. Tis extra step could not only be the difference
between public embarrassment, as was the case last month, but also a life and property saver. ●
Ryan Gray Editor-in-Chief
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