New Federal School Bus Anti-Terrorism
Program Released

By Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The school bus industry and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) announced on July 8 that a school bus specific version of the federally-funded Highway Watch Program will be available nationwide later this month.

The first School Bus Watch course was taught to about 100 school bus drivers at the International Safety Competition on July 16 at the NSTA 41st Annual Convention in Washington , D.C. In subsequent weeks, the course was also taught at STN EXPO 2005 and in such states as Connecticut , Pennsylvania and Texas . Future locations are to be announced.

NSTA said it is highly appropriate that the best school bus drivers in the country were the first to achieve certification. The 90-minute school bus workshops, including all training materials, are free of charge to the nation's 600,000 school bus drivers.

"School bus drivers already play an important role in the safety and security of their communities," said Dale Krapf, past-president of NSTA. "School Bus Watch represents an important part of continuing that role and gives them some additional tools that will help them to keep their communities, their vehicles, and our children safe."

Developed by NAPT , NASDPTS and NSTA for the pupil transportation industry, School Bus Watch trains drivers on the recognition of the specific hazards or unusual activities that may hold national security implications for school buses. Since 9-11, pupil transporters have begun preparations for possible scenarios, in which terrorists, either domestic or international, may target school buses filled with students in a coordinated attack.

"School Bus Watch has been developed by the school bus industry and is tailored specifically for our school bus professionals," said Steve Kalmes, President of NAPT . "It incorporates the communication elements of the Highway Watch Program in a manner that is specific to our school bus operators. The program addresses all of the important information that a school bus driver would need to know to fulfill the program goals."

The Highway Watch Program, conversely, centers only on commercial truck drivers including information on what they should look for on the highway, how they should report emergencies, the appropriate numbers to call, safe and responsible wireless phone use, how the program will coordinate with other security and safety initiatives, and more. Commercial drivers include millions of professionals who spend much of their lives on the nation's highways and represent an excellent potential army of eyes and ears to monitor for security threats, NASDPTS said, but school bus operations do not always relate to that of over-the-road commercial trucks.

"School bus drivers are also professional drivers. But, unlike professional truck drivers who frequently travel great distances and travel to many cities, towns and states, professional school bus drivers normally drive the same routes at the same times every school day," said Pete Japikse, NASDPTS president and Ohio's state director of pupil transportation. "As a result, school bus drivers are some of the best eyes and ears on the road in each local community to notice something that is out of the ordinary."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has granted the ATA $41 million in federal funds for Highway Watch since its inception in 1998. Darrin McGreevy of TSA said a portion of that money will go to School Bus Watch, but it was not yet known how much.

Source: School Transportation News, September 2005. All rights reserved.