Terrorism and Pupil Transportation

By Mike Dorn

It is sad but true that recent events of terrorism worldwide have ominous implications for our schools.

Having been extensively trained on counterterrorism and being assigned to a state anti-terrorism unit for six months following the events of Sept. 11, 2001 , I have concerns about schools as potential targets. While we must avoid knee-jerk reactions and panic, we must be realistic about potential for risk.

Whether it is a school shooting as happened in Columbine, Colo., a school bus hijacking by a deranged driver in Pennsylvania a year ago, or a bus obliterated by a suicide bomber in Israel, these senseless acts occur. While in Israel for anti-terrorism training, I encountered a group of Israeli school children on a field trip. Standing close to the

Mike Dorn

children was a young man wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt. He also had an M-16 rifle hanging from a shoulder sling. A high ranking official from the Israel Police informed me that in Israel , school children are not allowed to go on a field trip without an armed escort. This measure was implemented after two busloads of school children were gunned down by ruthless terrorists.

In our own country, we have seen two hostage situations perpetrated by domestic militia at elementary schools. These types of situations indicate that we cannot dismiss the possibility of terrorism involving school buses.

Schools and school buses offer several of the traits that terrorists often seek when they select targets: (1) they are soft targets; (2) school violence incidents garner considerable media attention; (3) acts of terrorism involving children grip parents with fear for their children's safety causing significant reactions across the country.

If even one major incident occurs involving a school bus, it will be difficult to calm the fears of parents, employees, and students unless you already have measures in place. As we can see from the difficulty of reopening our airports, waiting to have contingency plans for dramatically enhanced safety measures can be disastrous. Pupil transportation officials must be prepared to use a calm and measured approach to prepare for threats that we all hope will never materialize.

We must understand that as in Israel and other countries, we may be forced to rapidly modify the type and level of security for our buses if even a single incident takes place. If a busload of children were killed by a terrorist's car bomb in a small American town next week, what impact would it have on your transportation responsibilities?

Now is the time to discuss such concerns with local public safety officials. While the chances of any one individual community being a direct target of terrorism - particularly of international terrorism - are remote, the impact on all would be dramatic and instantaneous. A basic tenant of anti-terrorism is that schools would need to resume "business as usual" with enhanced security measures quickly to minimize the impact of the incident and decrease the likelihood of additional incidents. While many school officials have reviewed security and emergency operations plans for their schools with terrorism in mind, many communities have overlooked pupil transportation. Make sure that your operation is included in efforts to address these heightened concerns.

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Michael Dorn is widely considered to be one of the nation's most experienced, trusted and highly credentialed school safety experts. He has been a full-time campus safety practitioner for 24 years, has authored and co-authored 14 books and is a regular presenter at professional conferences. His training videos are now in use in more than 20 countries. He can be reached at schoolsafety@hotmail.com .