Portland to continue drills for bus drivers

Portland Press Herald | November 21, 2005
By MARK PETERS

Portland transportation officials will continue to place objects on school buses randomly to determine whether drivers are checking for bombs and other dangers, Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor said Thursday.

The practice came under scrutiny this month after Kevin Mallory, the city's school transportation director, put five wooden blocks on buses, with notes describing a terrorist bomb threat scenario.

Some drivers had concerns about the drill, and O'Connor questioned the wording of the notes.

But after an initial review, O'Connor said she sees the use of the blocks, which drivers are supposed to find during their morning safety inspections, as a good training tool.

Other school districts are turning to similar tests to ensure that drivers go through checklists each morning, inspecting such items as tires, seats and the engine.

"This is just letting drivers know we are paying attention, and it is important every step gets done," said Tim Gallant, president of the Maine Association for Pupil Transportation.

As transportation director for the Rumford-Mexico school district, Gallant has started to place marked two-by-fours in bus seats and small discs on oil dip sticks to ensure that the inspections are happening. Each object congratulates the driver for finding it. It also tells the driver not to mention the items to other drivers whose buses may be tested that day.

In Portland, Mallory put the wood blocks with notes on buses earlier this month. O'Connor said the objects were put in places outside the passenger compartment, where drivers should look but students wouldn't find them.

In this case, the drivers didn't find them either, O'Connor said.

Afterward, some of the district's 30 drivers and their union had concerns about the appropriateness of the test. Union officials did not return calls Thursday seeking comment.

O'Connor said her office will continue to look at the issue. Mallory could not be reached for comment.

The practice of occasionally placing objects on buses to test drivers was taught last summer at the annual conference of Maine's school transportation officials, said Harvey Boatman, a transportation specialist for the Maine Department of Education.

Bus safety, including safeguards against bombings and sabotage, is an ongoing concern nationally.

Each day, 25 million students ride buses, but there is little state or federal money to improve security, said Mike Martin of the National Association for Pupil Transportation.

Last modified November 21, 2005