School bus safety and a pellet gun … not a good combination.
One morning it was announced over the radio a student told him there may be someone on the board with a gun. This is the first time I have ever heard something like this on the radio.
With student and school bus safety there were several questions between the dispatcher and driver. You could hear 
in the driver’s voice he was remaining calm. Ultimately, the police met the school bus and driver at his next stop. The police came on board, went to the rear of the school bus, and removed the suspected individual. After that, the driver went to his next stop to pick up students and apparently took everything in stride. Little did he know the child was carrying a pellet hand gun. Yes, I know it was “only” a pellet gun but …
Once all the drivers returned to the school bus barn the word quickly spread that the individual had a pellet gun. But, boy, did reality start setting in with some of the drivers !!! You see, this sort of thing just doesn’t happen in our community. School bus safety is a primary factor when parents choose for the kids to ride the bus.
Drivers for the school district quickly realized we don’t really have any kind of protocol for handling a student who is suspected of having a weapon.
What should we do? Should we use the regular radio to call back to dispatch? Should we call 911? With school bus safety the number one issue how should the kids safely off the bus but how do we do that without raising any suspicions? What involvement should the driver have?
I could go on and on …
It’s a sad state of affairs when something like this happens. But reality is reality.
We must be prepared. I am going to do my best and push that we get specific training for this sort of thing. And I won’t rest until we get it.
Does anyone have any suggestions on handling this situation?
What sort of training have other districts done regarding school bus safety and a student potentially having a weapon on board?
