WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new federal law implementing recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission is resulting in something those in the school bus sector know all too well: an unfunded mandate.

Amid a congressional directive to complete a security threat assessment of the nation’s school bus fleet and any vulnerabilities to possible terrorist attacks, it remained unclear exactly how the Transportation Security Administration was prepared to complete its mission.

“We’re starting at the ground floor here,” said one senior Homeland Security official. “We need more grant money.”

Signed into law by President Bush on Aug. 3, H.R. 1 requires Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to submit a report by next summer to Congress containing a comprehensive assessment of the risk of terrorist attacks on the nation’s school bus transportation system. The assessments are to be based upon a representative sampling of school and private fleets by demographics and population centers and will include recommendations on how to respond to any such threats.

For more than two years, TSA’s Passenger Security Branch has conducted a dozen corporate security reviews nationwide to help public school districts and private school bus operators assess how well they are prepared to meet possible threats. Several received “outstanding” marks, among those Chicago Public Schools, Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Fla., and Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools.

But, as far as the new congressionally-mandated assessments, School Transportation News learned from senior officials that TSA currently does not have the resources in its Passenger Security Branch to complete them.

Whether or not the TSA Passenger Security Branch can handle the workload, it appears contractors such as The VOLPE National Transportation Center in Cambridge, Mass., Consolidated Safety Services, which administers TSA’s School Transportation Security Awareness (STSA) training or Daescher Consulting could step in to complete the work. States performing their own assessments is also an option.

While H.R. 1 only requires a representative sampling of school districts and private school bus companies, the task remains a daunting one.

Since 2003, Congress has awarded more than $60 million in grant funds to TSA for motorcoach vulnerability assessments, but TSA has yet to receive similar funding for school buses, which is now required under the law. The National School Transportation Association asks why school bus security reviews can’t be conducted at the same time as motorcoaches because the two industries are so similar.

“TSA has already done motorcoach assessments. Their VOLPE contractor did a similar vulnerability assessment,” said Robin Leeds, an industry specialist with the school bus contractor association. “We need something like that for the school transportation industry. Much of it can be the same. They have experience. They don’t have to start from scratch.”

A spokesperson for Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC), who co-sponsored the bill and succeeded in inserting the school bus language at the behest of NSTA, NASDPTS and Thomas Built Buses, said Congress will use the final report to evaluate any vulnerabilities and will consider Homeland Security’s recommendations for addressing them.

Reprinted from the September 2007 issue of School Transportation News magazine. All rights reserved.