Jun 5

Written by: Bret Rachlin
6/5/2009 4:00 PM

How does your school district provide security for its buses? If you don’t have confidence in your answer, then you might want to consider what happened in Gainesville, GA, last month (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/23/09, $10,000 reward for info on school bus fires). A fire destroyed eight buses and heavily damaged a ninth in the Gainesville City Schools bus shop. The estimated cost to replace each bus is $60,000 to $70,000. Although the fire has not officially been ruled arson, the damage to the district’s transportation program is significant.

In addition to being high valued assets, buses also are obviously relied upon to ensure students get to and from school. When thinking about the appropriate cost to protect your buses, a key question to consider is: what would it cost to close school for a day if the buses were inoperable?

Locking down the bus area like Fort Knox is not a reasonable option, however there are some security measures that you can implement to mitigate your risk. Determine if you can control access to the bus area more effectively. Is it possible to install a fence surrounding the buses with a locked gate during overnight hours? Additionally, could you provide ample lighting, as well as video surveillance to notify potential perpetrators that they may be monitored? Since you may utilize these security techniques for your school building, then why wouldn’t you include the bus area, too?

Does your school district secure the bus area with the same zeal as the school buildings themselves?

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