Use of Military Vehicles to Transport Students A-OK, Officials Say

Michael Levin-Epstein | Contributing Editor

SAN ANTONIO - Young children of military personnel at the Fort Sam Houston Army base in south Texas are being transported to and from a nearby elementary school by military vehicles with temporary bus markings instead of standard yellow school buses. But it's completely legal, base officials assert, because the Department of Defense is exempt from compliance with state pupil transportation regulations if students are transported exclusively within the military reservation.

Several months ago, a former military man and safety gadfly, Anthony Schneider, noticed children boarding the military vehicles and contacted local officials to inquire about compliance with state and federal school transportation mandates. Fort Sam Houston officials informed Schneider that neither the base nor the school district were violating any laws or regulations.

It was unclear how many military installations use non-traditional buses to transport students, as calls to both the Department of Defense Education Activity and the Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C., were unreturned as of this writing.

But using Department of Defense buses to transport students who live on bases is not unique to Fort Sam Houston, says Charlie Gauthier, former executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Transportation and a retired NHTSA school bus specialist. "I'm not sure how many bases do that, however," he adds. At Fort Campbell in Kentucky , for example, only standard yellow school buses are used, according to Charlotte Moore, district school transportation director.

Under Highway Safety Program Guideline 17 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, which sets out minimum recommendations for a state highway safety program for pupil transportation, "the Army is not obliged to observe state regulations or state implementation of federal safety standards regarding markings and painting of school buses," notes Fort Sam Houston public information officer Phil Reidinger.

Fort Sam Houston uses military vehicles instead of standard school buses because of safety concerns, explains Reidinger. The students - all dependents of current or retired military personnel - live too close to their elementary school to qualify for state-funded transportation, he notes. If the military vehicles were not deployed, the children would be forced to walk on streets with high density traffic and no sidewalks to get to their homes on post, reports Reidinger. "They can't cross through the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery ," he adds.

Gail Siller, superintendent of Fort Sam Houston ISD, agrees that the base's policy is intended as a safety measure to protect students who reside on the installation. Without the bus service provided by the military, these young students would have to move around two golf courses and the national cemetery, stresses Siller. The post employs certified drivers and provides the service at its own expense, she notes. "The installation provides this service not only to our district but to the families who reside at the base," Siller adds.

But Schneider remains concerned. "I'm worried that not using yellow school buses to serve students at all times may not be the safest approach," he says. Despite their temporary markings, he explains, the vehicles may not be as instantly recognizable as school buses, which could result in motorists not obeying usual warning signs. In addition, he says, transporting students on military buses sends the wrong safety message to students - that it's OK to travel to and from school on vehicles other than standard issue yellow school buses.

The use of military vehicles to transport students is unique to Fort Sam Houston and the Fort Sam Houston Independent School District elementary school attended by the children, notes Reidinger. "The military buses are only used to transport elementary school children from the Fort Sam Houston ISD elementary school to three housing areas that are inside a one- or two-mile radius of the school," Reidinger says. The base has been transporting students to and from this elementary school in military vehicles for 15 years, according to Reidinger.

The vehicles are post buses that also are used to transport troops, Reidinger says. The vehicles are marked on both sides with black and yellow signs designating them as school buses, he notes. Yellow and black signs also are applied to the backs of the buses warning vehicles to stop when lights are flashing and when the bus is loading or unloading passengers.

The school district has standard yellow school buses that transport students from the junior and senior high school, notes Reidinger. Those buses also are used for transporting students to all other elementary, junior high and senior high school activities on or off the installation, according to Reidinger.