Riteway Participates in School Evacuation Drills

GERMANTOWN, Pa.(Nov. 5, 2005) - In October, Riteway Bus Services, Inc. participated in its first-ever school evacuation drills at several Slinger schools, including Slinger Middle School, Addison and Allenton Elementary Schools. The purpose of the drills was to practice safe and quick building evacuation of students in the event of a potential safety or security threat.

The first drill took place on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at Slinger Middle School. Slinger police, fire and rescue squads were also on hand for the drill. Riteway school buses were called by principal, Patty Harmann after the fire alarm was pulled at 1:15 p.m., and the entire school was emptied in 3 minutes, 17 seconds. Over 700 students and teachers loaded onto Riteway buses. The total time of evacuation and boarding buses was under 13 minutes. The students then returned to school, and the buses returned to the terminal at 1:34 p.m.

During the drill, the front of the school was blocked with barriers to simulate a fire in that area of the building. Teachers were not told this was going to happen, which meant teachers had to lead students to alternate exits. Riteway's Safety Director, David Butcher, and Slinger Terminal Manager, Ron Aubrey, were on hand to provide assistance.

According to Mr. Butcher, the evacuation drills were tremendously beneficial in that they showed school officials what will and will not work. "For the most part these practices went very well," said Butcher, adding, "These practices helped everyone involved in the planning of emergency building evacuations." 

The next two school evacuation drills were held on Monday, October 24, for both Addison and Allenton Elementary Schools. None of the bus drivers were aware that the drill was going to take place, in order to best simulate a real emergency situation.  

When four buses arrived, Addison principal, Mr. John Larkin activated the drill, with fire and law enforcement officials in position.  Over 400 students and teachers were evacuated from the building and loaded onto the buses on site. The total time to evacuate all the students and teachers and getting on the buses was under 20 minutes.

Immediately following the Addison drill, Riteway then responded to Allenton Elementary School . Another bus was dispatched, sheriff's deputies blocked the road, and the drill was activated. More than 415 students and teachers were evacuated and loaded on buses within 15 minutes.

Each fall and spring, Riteway also practices school bus evacuation drills for emergency cases, such as accidents or threatening weather, but this was the first time Riteway participated in school evacuation drills. "School bus and school evacuation drills and safety training are essential to keeping our children safe," says Rochelle Bast, Riteway's Vice President of Operations. "Our goal is for every bus driver and student riding our buses to learn and understand the best practices of safely evacuating a bus or school."

Riteway has provided safe and dependable student transportation since 1957. Riteway operates a fleet of more than 450 school buses from eight locations in central and southeastern Wisconsin and services 17 school districts. For more information, visit www.ritewaybus.com.

For more information and pictures, please contact Becky Donlin, Media Relations, at 262-677-3282 or becky@ritewaybus.com.